{"id":776,"date":"2026-06-26T04:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776"},"modified":"2026-06-26T04:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:14:14","slug":"u-s-supreme-court-overturns-hawaii-gun-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Supreme Court today struck down a Hawaii law that required gun owners to get permission before carrying a firearm onto private property like grocery stores, coffee shops and gas stations that are otherwise open to the public.<\/p>\n

Read more Sewer rate hike is proposed<\/a><\/p>\n

The case is the latest victory for gun rights advocates before the court since the justices decided in the 2022 landmark Second Amendment ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that Americans have a broad right to arm themselves in public.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, the court\u2019s conservative majority held that Hawaii\u2019s gun restriction violated the Second Amendment\u2019s protections.<\/p>\n

Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that Hawaii\u2019s law \u201cviolates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms\u201d because it \u201chobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s three liberal justices dissented.<\/p>\n

In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, wrote that states could protect private property rights \u201cby requiring those wishing to carry guns onto private property to get express consent from the property owner before doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that, in her view, the majority\u2019s objective was \u201cprotecting guns, not consistently preserving any principle of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision is the second time in recent weeks that the justices have sided with gun owners who argued that laws restricting firearms violated the Second Amendment. On June 18, the justices voted unanimously in favor of a Texas marijuana user who argued that gun owners should not be automatically stripped of their rights because of illegal drug use.<\/p>\n

In the Bruen case, the court\u2019s conservative majority laid out a new test for gun control laws, finding that courts should analyze whether they align with the country\u2019s \u201chistory and tradition\u201d to determine if they met constitutional muster.<\/p>\n

In response to that ruling, lawmakers in Hawaii revisited state gun laws, quickly passing a number of new restrictions on concealed carrying of handguns. Among them was a ban on weapons in so-called sensitive places such as schools, parks and beaches.<\/p>\n

That law also required people to get explicit permission from owners before carrying weapons onto private property otherwise open to the public. It was that portion of the state\u2019s law at issue before the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

A group of individual gun owners in Maui, along with a gun rights organization, sued in 2023 to challenge the law, asserting it violated the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

During oral arguments in January in the case, Wolford v. Lopez, the justices wrangled over how they should apply the Bruen test and how to balance its focus on the country\u2019s history of gun rights with the nation\u2019s tradition of also upholding robust private property rights.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration supported the challenge to the gun law. During the argument, Sarah M. Harris, a principal deputy solicitor general, argued that Hawaii\u2019s law would \u201cgut Bruen\u201d by preventing \u201ceveryone licensed to carry from doing so at retail establishments or other private property open to the public absent the owner\u2019s express consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyers defending Hawaii\u2019s law asserted that the gun law met the Bruen test and that it flowed from the history and tradition of both the islands and the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018We are so very talented on every island\u2019: \u2018Bows football coaches visit Hilo<\/a><\/p>\n

The state has long had some of the nation\u2019s tightest gun regulations and is known for rarely granting concealed-carry permits.<\/p>\n

State officials pointed to Hawaii\u2019s traditions as a kingdom, including an 1833 law in place during the reign of King Kamehameha III that prohibited \u201cany person or persons\u201d from possessing deadly weapons.<\/p>\n

But in today\u2019s decision, Alito wrote that the majority found the historical examples cited by Hawaii in support of its law unconvincing and \u201cvastly different\u201d from Hawaii\u2019s gun restriction. In dissent, Jackson countered that Hawaii had demonstrated \u201ca history and tradition\u201d of tight gun restrictions.<\/p>\n

During oral arguments, the justices had tangled over some of the historical evidence introduced by Hawaii\u2019s lawyers. That included an 1865 Louisiana law that had outlawed carrying guns onto plantations or lands without the owner\u2019s permission, which Hawaii\u2019s lawyers argued showed that the island state\u2019s law had a historical precedent from the mainland as well.<\/p>\n

The gun rights activists said the Louisiana law was one of the so-called Black Codes, a series of laws passed by Southern states in a post-Civil War effort to limit the carrying of firearms by formerly enslaved people. While part of the nation\u2019s history, they argued, it was not a statute that should be emulated in the modern day.<\/p>\n

Is it not \u201cthe height of irony to cite a law that was enacted for exactly the purpose of preventing someone from exercising the Second Amendment right, to cite this as an example of what the Second Amendment protects?\u201d Alito asked a lawyer for Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Jackson, one of the Supreme Court\u2019s three liberals and the first Black woman to sit on the court, countered that the Black Codes, too, are part of the country\u2019s history and traditions. The debate, she said, highlighted flaws in the Supreme Court\u2019s new Bruen test.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the extent that we have a test that relates to historical regulation, but all of the history of regulation is not taken into account, I think there might be something wrong with the test,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Alan A. Beck, the lawyer who represented the Hawaii gun owners who challenged the law, said Thursday that he and his clients were pleased with the outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to carry guns is a pretty new thing in Hawaii,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a growing population of people who are exercising their Second Amendment right to carry, and this opinion allows them to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Hawaii has long had some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country and that the opinion would give people in Hawaii \u201cthe same rights that everyone in the rest of the country has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group founded by Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, released a statement calling the ruling \u201cdisappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janet Carter, who directs Second Amendment litigation for Everytown Law, the group\u2019s legal arm, said in a statement that the court \u201ccannot take away a private property owner\u2019s authority over their own land\u201d and that business owners could take \u201csmall steps to make clear guns aren\u2019t welcome \u2014 as simple as posting a sign at the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Pent\u2011up demand lifts Hawaii travel ahead of Fourth of July; outlook still mixed<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 The New York Times Company<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nU.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-26T04:14:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-26T04:14:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776\"},\"wordCount\":1156,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776\",\"name\":\"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-26T04:14:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":481},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=776#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-06-26T04:14:14+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law","datePublished":"2026-06-26T04:14:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776"},"wordCount":1156,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776","name":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-26T04:14:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1506fb6c99cdba304a3e8c23f6d905b2.webp","width":760,"height":481},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=776#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"U.S. Supreme Court overturns Hawaii gun law"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}