Hawaii Court Issues Gun Rights Ruling

(USNewsBreak.com) – Those on the Left have focused on gun rights for many years now. Advocates remain determined to enact gun control measures, and it has resulted in many legal battles. In Hawaii, a battle rages over whether the state can prosecute a person for carrying a firearm in public without the proper permitting. The state Supreme Court recently issued its ruling.

In December 2017, police arrested Christopher Wilson in the West Maui Mountains. Authorities found him with a loaded handgun. He didn’t have the necessary permit to carry it in public. Prosecutors eventually charged him with keeping a firearm and ammunition in an improper place.

Hawaii's Supreme Court cites 'The Wire' in ruling bashing firearm access: 'The thing about the old days, they the old days' https://t.co/YF6MkdogrE

— Insider (@thisisinsider) February 8, 2024

Wilson’s legal team tried to argue that he was carrying the weapon legally, per the Second Amendment and the Supreme Court’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision. The prosecutors refuted that assertion, saying Wilson had never applied for a carry permit, meaning he didn’t fulfill legal requirements, so the argument was invalid.

While a Second Circuit Court agreed with the defense’s argument, the state Supreme Court did not. In fact, the justices made clear that they “reject Wilson’s constitutional change” and that “in Hawaiʻi, there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public.” Additionally, the justices noted that the founding fathers ratified the Second Amendment in 1791, and “today’s public safety laws” are much different. Their opinion then quoted HBO’s hit show “The Wire,” saying, “The thing about the old days, they the old days.”

The Hawaii ruling basically affirmed that prosecutors can bring charges against people who openly carry in the state without applying for the proper permit.

Speaking with Newsweek, one of Wilson’s attorneys, Benjamin Lowenthal, said there’s a lot to look at in the “opinion and analysis,” and the team will review it to determine their next course of action, if any.