9th Circuit Upholds Hawaii Laws Against Open Carry Of Firearms

[ZiprHead]

The opinion is a departure from other federal rulings that have generally upheld Second Amendment rights. Meanwhile, firearm permit applications rose 63% in 2020.

Hawaii gun advocates were dealt a blow Wednesday by a federal court ruling that upheld state laws regulating the open carry of firearms in public.

The decision stems from a 2012 case of a Big Island man who had been repeatedly denied an open carry permit. The majority of an 11-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of the state in the man’s latest legal challenge.

The 127-page majority decision, written by Judge Jay Bybee, is the most recent federal court ruling to declare that the right to bear arms, enshrined in the Second Amendment, is not absolute. The ruling comes at a time when other circuits are ruling differently, and also lands as the country experienced two mass shootings in the past few weeks — in Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia.

“Today’s ruling, joined by respected appellate judges across the ideological spectrum, is the latest reminder that arguments against reasonable, life-saving gun laws rarely hold up in the courtroom,” Eric Tirschwell, managing director of Everytown Law, a gun safety group that took part in the case, said in a statement.

Link to the decision.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Good. Open carry is for idiots except when you're out hunting.

 

[Ford]

Good. Open carry is for idiots except when you're out hunting.

But how are they going to be able to say "look at me...look at my gun! Aren't you impressed and also a little scared?"