Supreme Court to weigh Hawaii’s strict gun laws

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up a challenge to Hawaii’s gun laws, which are some of the strictest in the nation. In a one-sentence order, the court agreed to legally review the case. Three people who hold concealed-carry licenses in Hawaii, and a gun rights organization, all sued the state’s attorney general over the law. The Department of Justice filed an amicus brief siding with the petitioners.

Hawaii currently prohibits carrying guns on private property, such as stores or homes, without the express permission of the property owner. Breaking that law is a misdemeanor, carrying penalties of up to a year’s imprisonment. The law includes exceptions for law enforcement and a few other circumstances.

How did lower courts handle the legal case? A district court granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction stopping enforcement of the state’s private-property rule, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed most of that ruling. The circuit court allowed the carrying of guns in hospitals, banks, and places of worship, but upheld bans applying to most other private properties.

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