SCOTUS Refuses to Hear Appeal Against Hawaii’s Gun Licensing Law – One America News Network
OAN Staff Abril Elfi
12:35 PM – Monday, December 9, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has opted not to review a challenge to Hawaii’s handgun licensing law, which prohibits carrying handguns or ammunition in public without proper licensing.
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On Monday, three of the court’s Republican justices indicated in written remarks that the current status of the case did not merit the Supreme Court’s involvement, despite accusations that Hawaii’s top court was allegedly failing to adequately interpret the Second Amendment.
Justice Clarence Thomas, accompanied by Justice Samuel Alito, recognized the “evident unconstitutionality” of Hawaii’s regulations but noted that “rectifying the Hawaii Supreme Court’s misjudgment will have to wait for another occasion.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch further commented that the ruling “raises significant concerns.”
Christopher Wilson submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court after his December 2017 arrest for purportedly trespassing on private property while possessing an unregistered pistol and ten rounds of ammunition in his waistband, without a carry permit.
Monday’s decision affirmed a ruling from Hawaii’s highest court, which dismissed Wilson’s claims regarding violations of his constitutional right to bear arms, allowing the case to advance to trial.
The three conservative justices indicated that Wilson might file additional appeals after the trial concludes.
“The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled during an interlocutory appeal, and it is common for courts to revisit and amend interlocutory judgments later in the proceedings,” Gorsuch expressed. “It’s possible the Hawaii Supreme Court will seize that opportunity in this instance. If it doesn’t, Mr. Wilson is free to petition this Court for review after a final decision.”
The ruling criticized the Supreme Court’s recent broadening of gun rights, arguing that it “destroys stable law.”
“The Supreme Court requires state and federal courts to apply a vague ‘history and traditions’ test for assessing laws aimed at public safety, abandoning established methods used by federal and state courts to review laws enacted by the People to safeguard society,” noted the Hawaii court’s opinion.
“By reducing the test to historical perspective alone, it compromises effective approaches to interpreting firearms legislation,” it continued. “All to promote a specific interpretive approach.”
The court asserted that Hawaii’s “place to keep” offenses, which classify it as a felony to possess a handgun or ammunition outside one’s home or business without a license, were in accordance with both the Second Amendment and the state Constitution.
“States cannot establish a licensing system that violates the Second Amendment and then prosecute individuals engaged in constitutionally protected activities for noncompliance,” Wilson’s public defender remarked in his Supreme Court petition.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the appeal allows Wilson to move forward to trial.
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