HONOLULU — State Attorney General Anne Lopez hailed a ruling of a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Lopez said reinstates restrictions on where people can carry firearms in Hawaii.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court limited states’ abilities to restrict the carrying of firearms in its ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, now known as the Bruen decision.
The court ruled that the Second Amendment gives people the right to carry handguns in public to protect themselves.
In response, Gov. Josh Green in 2023 signed the latest version of Senate Bill 1230 into law as Act 52, which dictates when and where people can carry firearms.
They cannot carry guns on private property owned by someone else or in and on beaches, parks and restaurants and bars that serve alcohol, along with their adjacent parking areas.
Act 52 also “requires possession and disclosure of a license to carry. Prohibits leaving an unsecured firearm in a vehicle unattended. Prohibits consuming or being under the influence of alcohol, an intoxicating liquor, or a controlled substance when carrying a firearm.”
In 2023, Mayor Rick Blangiardi also signed into law Bill 57, which bans firearms in 13 “sensitive places” across Oahu, including schools, child care facilities, popular places such as the Waikiki Aquarium, voting sites and hospitals.
The 9th Circuit’s decision announced Friday also applies to California’s efforts following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision.
The panel also ruled unanimously that California can additionally enforce bans in casinos, libraries, zoos, stadiums and museums and their adjacent parking lots.
The 9th Circuit ruling, Lopez said, reinstates “crucial laws intended to protect the public from gun violence.”
The case was heard as “Jason Wolford v. Anne E. Lopez.”
Workers at several Honolulu gun stores declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Some gun rights advocates who in January testified at the Honolulu Police Department on where and when guns should be permitted could not be reached Friday for comment.
“Act 52 ensures that those carrying firearms in public are law-abiding and do so safely, to protect Hawaii’s residents as much as possible in the post-Bruen era,” Lopez said in a statement following the 9th Circuit ruling. “Among other things, Act 52 instituted a default rule that firearms are prohibited on another’s private property unless they received express authorization from the private-property owner, and instituted specific ‘sensitive places’ where firearms generally cannot be carried.”
But a U.S. District Court judge in 2023 issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of Act 52.
Friday’s 9th Circuit ruling overturned a restriction on gun possession in parking lots shared by governmental and nongovernmental buildings.
Kaliko‘onalani D. Fernandes, Hawaii’s solicitor general, said in a statement, “The state of Hawaii takes public safety seriously. This is a significant decision recognizing that the state’s public safety measures are consistent with our nation’s historical tradition.”
Special Deputy Attorney General Neal Katyal of the law firm Hogan Lovells formerly served as U.S. solicitor general.
In a statement, Katyal said, “We are very gratified that the court of appeals rejected the trial court’s overly broad restriction on Hawai‘i’s ability to keep our people safe. Hawai‘i’s gun safety laws are grounded in common sense, and we will fight vigorously to protect them.”
State Rep. Darius Kila (D, Nanakuli-Maili) represents a district that’s part of an overall surge in gun violence in West Oahu.
Around 1:50 a.m. Thursday, a 41-year-old man was left in serious condition after he was shot multiple times.
Honolulu police Friday continued to search for the assailant, who is wanted for second-degree attempted murder.
The shooting in Maili followed the Aug. 31 slayings of three members of the Keamo family on their land on the mauka end of Waianae Valley Road.
They were killed by their rampaging neighbor after family members complained about people racing up and down Waianae Valley Road to attend an illegal gathering at an unpermitted Quonset hut belonging to Hiram James Silva Sr., 59.
Silva shot five people in total and had used a front loader filled with drums of fuel to ram vehicles into the Keamo family home.
He was shot to death by Rishard Kanaka Keamo-Carnate, 42.
Following the 9th Circuit’s ruling Friday, Kila said the places that prohibit guns in Act 52 “are supposed to be places of safety.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Bruen case provides gun owners with “legal options for law-abiding citizens to follow the Second Amendment,” Kila said. “We know that it’s people who do not have CCW (concealed carry weapons) permits that are committing crimes. Now, more than ever, we need to revisit the way people are committing gun crimes.”
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Reuters contributed to this report.
