In the case of Jason Wolford v. Anne E. Lopez, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion upholding crucial Hawaiʻi laws intended to protect the public from gun violence.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court made a significant change to Second Amendment law in the Bruen case, which affected state laws restricting the public carry of firearms.

Following the decision, Governor Josh Green, M.D., signed Act 52 in 2023, establishing a comprehensive framework for firearm regulation, recognized nationwide for its public protection measures. Act 52 ensures that those carrying firearms in public are law-abiding and do so safely, to protect Hawaiʻi’s residents as much as possible in the post-Bruen era. 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.

In 2023, a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the law requiring that firearms are prohibited on private property open to the public without express authorization, which essentially allowed firearms to be carried on such property unless firearms are expressly prohibited. The decision further enjoined, or halted, the enforcement of laws that prohibited the carrying of firearms in public beaches, public parks and adjacent parking areas; bars and restaurants that serve alcohol and their adjacent parking areas; financial institutions and their adjacent parking areas, and parking lots shared by government and non-governmental buildings.

The Ninth Circuit’s decision today almost entirely reversed the district court’s injunction, reinstating crucial laws intended to protect the public from gun violence. In particular, the Ninth Circuit upheld Act 52’s default rule prohibiting the carrying of firearms on private property owned by another without their consent in full, as well as the prohibitions on the carrying of firearms on beaches and parks, and restaurants and bars that serve alcohol, along with their adjacent parking areas.

“The state of Hawaiʻi takes public safety seriously,” says Solicitor General of Hawaiʻi Kalikoʻonālani D. Fernandes. “This is a significant decision recognizing that the state’s public safety measures are consistent with our nation’s historical tradition.”

“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,” said Special Deputy Attorney General Neal Katyal of the law firm Hogan Lovells, who formerly served as the U.S. Solicitor General. “Hawai’i’s gun safety laws are grounded in common sense, and we will fight vigorously to protect them.”