December 1, 2025

Lawsuit On Conceal Carry Of Firearms To Be Heard By SCOTUS With US DOJ Amicus Brief

By S.E. Gunn, PhD - All News Pipeline

On June 2, 2025, the Hawaii Governor, Democrat Josh Green signed into Hawaiian Law Act 52 (AKA SB 1230 SD2 HD1 CD1) covering rules for carrying concealed firearms in Hawaii. The law is accompanied by Government Message Number 1152 informing the Hawaiian Legislature that Act 52 was signed into law on June 2, 2023.

Hawaiian Legislature cites the purpose of Act 52 is to 

. . . clarify, revise, and update Hawaii’s firearms laws to mitigate the serious hazards to public health, safety, and welfare associated with firearms and gun violence, while respecting and protecting the lawful exercise of individual rights. To accomplish this purpose, this Act amends and enacts requirements and processes for obtaining a license to carry a firearm, updates criteria governing when firearm ownership, possession, or control is prohibited, defines locations and premises within the State where carrying or possessing a firearm is prohibited, prohibits leaving an unsecured firearm in a vehicle unattended, and enacts, amends, and clarifies other provisions relating to firearms.

They go on to describe "certain locations" as [emphasis by author]:

1. Any building or office owned, leased, or used by the State or a county, and adjacent grounds and parking areas, including any portion of a building or office used for court proceedings, legislative business, contested case hearings, agency rulemaking, or other activities of state or county government;
2. Any public or private hospital, mental health facility, nursing home, clinic, medical office, urgent care facility, or other place at which medical or health services are customarily provided, including adjacent parking areas;
3. Any adult or juvenile detention or correctional facility, prison, or jail, including adjacent parking areas;
4. Any bar or restaurant serving alcohol or intoxicating liquor as defined in section 281-1 for consumption on the premises, including adjacent parking areas;
5. Any stadium, movie theater, or concert hall, or any place at which a professional, collegiate, high school, amateur, or student sporting event is being held, including adjacent parking areas;
6. All public library property, including buildings, facilities, meeting rooms, spaces used for community programming, adjacent grounds, and parking areas;
7. The campus or premises of any public or private community college, college, or university, and adjacent parking areas, including buildings, classrooms, laboratories, research facilities, artistic venues, and athletic fields or venues;
8. The campus or premises of any public school, charter school, private school, preschool, summer camp, or child care facility as defined in section 346-151, including adjacent parking areas, but not including: (A) A private residence at which education is provided for children who are all related to one another by blood, marriage, or adoption; or (B) A dwelling when not used as a child care facility;
9. Any beach, playground, park, or adjacent parking area, including any state park, state monument, county park, tennis court, golf course, swimming pool, or other recreation area or facility under control, maintenance, and management of the State or a county, but not including an authorized target range or shooting complex;
10. Any shelter, residential, or programmatic facility or adjacent parking area operated by a government entity or charitable organization serving unhoused persons, victims of domestic violence, or children, including children involved in the juvenile justice system;
11. Any voter service center as de fined in section 11-1 or other polling place, including adjacent parking areas;
12. The premises of any bank or financial institution as defined in section 211D-1, including adjacent parking areas
13. Any place, facility, or vehicle used for public transportation or public transit, and adjacent parking areas, including buses, paratransit vans, bus shelters and terminals (but not including bus stops located on public sidewalks), trains, rail stations, and airports
14. Any amusement park, aquarium, carnival, circus, fair, museum, water park, or zoo, including adjacent parking areas; or
15. Any public gathering, public assembly, or special event conducted on property open to the public, including any demonstration, march, rally, vigil, protest, picketing, or other public assembly, for which a permit is obtained from the federal government, the State, or a county, and the sidewalk or street immediately adjacent to the public gathering, public assembly, or special event; provided that there are signs clearly and conspicuously posted at visible places along the perimeter of the public gathering, public assembly, or special event.

Seems to me that if you can't have a firearm in "adjacent parking areas" you can't have a firearm with you at all, since you can't take it with you, nor can you leave it locked in your vehicle. And, there is a 'petty misdemeanor' penalty (§134-C) for leaving your firearm in your locked vehicle but not secured in a safe or "other secure impact- and tamper-resistant container."

In addition, there is a 'petty misdemeanor' penalty (§134-D) for consuming alcohol, intoxicating liquor, or controlled substances (drugs) or to be under the influence of these substances while carrying concealed. So, don't have a glass of wine at dinner (while you leave your legal firearm in a safe in your locked vehicle) or a glass of beer at your favorite bar while watching a sporting event with others (while you leave your legal firearm in a safe in your locked vehicle) even if you never reach the 'legal limit' for blood alcohol. Just simply having 1 drink is enough to get you charged under this section.

In addition, there is a 'misdemeanor' penalty (§134-E) to carry your legal concealed firearm with you to your friend's house without their written (it says verbal but I would not trust your 'friend' to not renege on their 'word') consent or the "private entity" posts a sign expressly permitting concealed firearms on the property (stores, gyms, etc.). 

And if someone "happens" to see your concealed firearm (§134-G) it will be charged as a "petty misdemeanor" against you whether the firearm was loaded or not -  unless the 'unintentional reveal' was in your own residence or the firearm was revealed because it was used for self defense.

Act 52 went into partial effect on July 1, 2023 and full effect on January 1, 2024.

There were several lawsuits filed in Hawaii by both individuals and the Hawaii Firearms Coalition. 

In the lawsuit, Wolford v Lopez docket # 1:23-cv-00265 filed in District Court D Hawaii on June 23, 2023 about Act 52. The initial lawsuit sought the following relief:

1. An order preliminarily and permanently enjoining Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of the injunction, from enforcing Defendants’ policies complained about above;
2. Plaintiffs request this Court, enjoin the above challenged SB1230 provisions and any other relevant provision of SB1230 and or Hawaii law, both facially and as applied to Plaintiffs;
3. Declaratory relief that the complained of SB1230 provisions and any related HRS provisions are unconstitutional both facially and as applied to Plaintiffs.

On August 8, 2023, Judge Leslie E Kobayashi portioned out the part of the motion seeking a TRO and granted the following provisions to be enjoined:

• The portions of § 134-A(a)(1) that prohibit carrying firearms in parking areas owned, leased, or used by the State or a county which share the parking area with non-governmental entities, are not reserved for State or county employees, or do not exclusively serve the State or county building;
• The entirety of §§ 134-A(a)(4) and (a)(12);
• The portions of § 134-A(a)(9) prohibiting the carrying of firearms in beaches, parks, and their adjacent parking areas; and
• The portion of § 134-E that prohibits carrying firearms on private properties held open to the public.
• The TRO Motion is DENIED in all other respects.

The notice of appeal was filed September 7, 2023 by Hawaii. On September 6, 2024, the case went to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (Wolford v Lopez docket # 23-16164) where Judges Mary M Schroeder, Susan P Graber, and Jennifer Sung held (Judges Collins & VanDyke dissented) that:

. . . some places specified by the Hawaii law likely fall within the national tradition of prohibiting firearms at sensitive places, such as bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, parks, and similar areas. However, the court found that other places, such as financial institutions and places of worship, do not fall within this tradition. The court also held that the new default rule prohibiting the carry of firearms onto private property without consent is likely unconstitutional in California but not in Hawaii. . . . affirmed the preliminary injunctions to the extent that they enjoin restrictions on firearms at financial institutions, parking lots adjacent to financial institutions, and parking lots shared by government and non-government buildings. The court reversed the preliminary injunctions to the extent that they enjoin restrictions on firearms at bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, beaches, parks, and similar areas, and the new default rule prohibiting the carry of firearms onto private property without consent in Hawaii.

I would much rather follow LAW than "tradition" and the LAW I would follow is the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution (discussed in my October 18, 2025 ANP Article), NOT the "laws" Democrats in individual states want to make happen.

Of course, Hawaii appealed this decision to SCOTUS and SCOTUS agreed to hear the case as docket #24-1046 on October 3, 2025 with the ONLY question before SCOTUS being:

Whether the Second Amendment allows a State to make it unlawful for concealed-carry license-holders to carry firearms on private property open to the public without the property owner’s express authorization.

On May 5, 2025 an amicus brief was presented to SCOTUS stating unequivocally that:

Hawaii’s Private-Property Default Rule Violates The Second Amendment 

On November 12, 2025, the case was set for argument on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

For the first time in history, on November 25, 2025, the Federal Government motioned to participate in oral argument as they claim they have a

substantial interest in the preservation of the right to keep and bear arms and in the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment.

Of course, we won't hear the results of this case until June 2026 when SCOTUS releases its decisions on all cases, slowly, over time. UNLESS, SCOTUS decides it's too important to delay the results.