U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to Hawaii’s law forbidding carry on private property open to the public (such as restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores) without the property owner’s express consent.

In response to the NRA’s landmark victory in NYSRPA v. Bruen—which established that all Americans have a right to carry firearms in public—some states passed laws requiring concealed-carry permitholders to obtain permission from property owners before carrying on private property open to the public. While the Second Circuit struck down New York’s law and the Third Circuit struck down New Jersey’s, the Ninth Circuit upheld Hawaii’s. The Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the challenge to Hawaii’s law.

The National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief on May 2, 2025, urging the Court to hear the case. The NRA will now file another brief later this fall, arguing that the law violates the Second Amendment.

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.