HONOLULU — The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a challenge to Hawaii’s rule that firearms may not be carried on privately owned, publicly accessible property — including stores, hotels, beaches, and bars — unless the owner explicitly permits it.
Three Maui residents who sued the state in 2023 argue the default prohibition violates their Second Amendment right to carry firearms for self-defense. The case is the first significant gun-carry dispute before the high court since its 2022 ruling that sharply expanded public carry rights nationwide.
The justices agreed to consider only the private-property default rule, setting aside a broader set of Hawaii restrictions that a federal appeals court upheld in 2024.
How the case reached the court
Carrying guns in public is relatively new in Hawaii. Before the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, the state’s county police chiefs made it virtually impossible by rarely issuing permits for either open or concealed carry.
That ruling prompted Hawaii to retool its laws. Democratic Gov. Josh Green signed legislation allowing more people to carry concealed firearms while limiting where they could be carried. The three Maui plaintiffs sued in 2023, challenging restrictions at beaches, banks, bars, and restaurants that serve alcohol.
A federal judge in Honolulu initially blocked those restrictions. In 2024, a three-judge appeals court panel reversed most of that ruling, saying the state could bar firearms on beaches, at parks, at bars and restaurants serving alcohol, and on private property without the owner’s consent.
The plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to decide one question alone: the private property default rule.
The arguments
Alan Beck, the plaintiffs’ attorney, is making his first appearance before the Supreme Court. He said the default puts gun owners at an impossible disadvantage in a state where many property owners are reluctant to post “guns allowed” signs for fear of deterring customers — particularly tourists from Asia and Europe unfamiliar with public firearms carry.
If the rule stands, Beck said, “the Second Amendment right to carry firearms for self-defense will effectively be eviscerated.”
The case record includes declarations from Maui business owners willing to welcome gun carriers but unwilling to advertise that fact publicly.
Chris Marvin, a Hawaii resident and gun violence prevention expert with Everytown for Gun Safety, said the private property restriction “is built upon the courtesy we all grew up with: You don’t walk into someone else’s home or a local mom-and-pop shop with a weapon unless you know for a fact that you’re welcome to do so.”
The historical debate
The 2022 Supreme Court ruling held that gun regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Hawaii has leaned into that standard, noting in its briefs that long before it became a state, King Kamehameha III of the Hawaiian Kingdom prohibited people from possessing deadly weapons, and subsequent laws maintained strict firearms restrictions.
Billy Clark, senior litigation attorney with Giffords Law Center, which filed a brief supporting Hawaii, argued that American historical tradition encompasses more than English-derived common law. “And what is the American Historical tradition? Well, it is a blending pot of many cultures,” Clark said. “To me a proper inquiry into historical tradition would consider all of the cultures that have come together to make America.”
Beck rejected that framing. “The laws of a monarchy that predates the United States is not part of our American tradition of constitutional rights,” he said.
Hawaii’s gun landscape
Along with some of the nation’s strictest gun laws, Hawaii has some of the lowest rates of gun violence. Beck said it is a misconception that the state’s residents are uniformly opposed to firearms.
“Especially on the outer islands, Hawaii has a vibrant hunting culture that respects firearms just as much as any state on the mainland,” Beck said.