Supreme Court's Hawai'i gun law ruling narrows playbook for other states

The Supreme Court just struck down Hawaiʻi's gun law six to three, according to Axios. The ruling in Wolford v. Lopez determined that states cannot force private businesses open to the public to be gun-free zones—effectively shifting that responsibility from legislatures to business owners. The decision reveals how hard it's become to pass gun laws under the court's 'history and tradition' test: Hawaiʻi specifically designed its law to meet that standard and still lost. The state now joins lawmakers nationwide reassessing what firearm restrictions can survive judicial review. Some are pursuing new workarounds. California requires sixteen-hour training courses and four hundred dollars in fees for concealed carry permits. Illinois has upheld its ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and Maryland classified parks, casinos, museums, and health care facilities as sensitive places where guns can be restricted. Courts continue upholding bans on firearms in bars and restaurants, where alcohol is involved. The fundamental tension: modern legislatures addressing crowded cities and contemporary gun culture must justify their laws through an eighteenth-century constitutional framework, which constrains the creative problem-solving gun violence requires.

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