Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii law restricting guns on some private property

Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii restriction that prohibits concealed-carry permit holders from bringing their firearms onto private property that is open to the public. In a 6 to 3 decision in the case Wolford v. Lopez, the high court sided with a group of gun owners and a gun-rights group who argued that Hawaii's rule restricting where they could carry firearms violates the Second Amendment. The justices found unconstitutional the Hawaii law requiring people with concealed-carry permits to receive permission before bringing their guns onto private property that is open to the public — places like gas stations, restaurants or shops. The ruling in favor of the gun owners follows the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in which the high court recognized for the first time that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry a firearm outside the home. That decision laid out a new framework for courts to apply when determining the constitutionality of a gun restriction, which requires the government to show that a measure is rooted in the nation's historical tradition of firearms regulation. The first test of that new standard came in 2024, when the Supreme Court upheld a federal law barring people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. The high court said last week in a case involving a federal firearms restriction that the government cannot automatically disarm people who regularly use marijuana and are not dangerous. …