A coalition of 26 state attorneys general, led by Montana A.G. Austin Knudsen and Idaho A.G. Raul Labrador, has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the high court to “intervene and halt Hawaii’s unconstitutional gun ban” by granting certiorari in a case known as Wolford v. Lopez.
This follows an unprecedented brief filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in the case, siding also with the plaintiffs against Hawaii’s Act 52, which makes lawful concealed carry virtually impossible.
In an announcement from Knudsen’s office, the Montana attorney general stated, “The Supreme Court has guaranteed that Americans’ Second Amendment rights are not second-class rights, but the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision puts that guarantee in jeopardy. I hope SCOTUS will take up this case and reverse this flawed decision to protect our right to keep and bear arms. Montanans’ rights do not end at the state’s border, and I will not stand idly by as those rights are put at risk.”
“The right to bear arms belongs to the people—not because government permits it, but because government is bound to protect it,” Idaho’s Labrador added in a statement from his office. “Hawaii’s law turns that principle on its head, treating a guaranteed liberty as a regulated privilege. No government—federal or state—has the authority to take what it never had the power to give. If the courts do not intervene, this approach will become a blueprint for restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners nationwide. Idaho will not stand by. We will fight to uphold the Constitution and defend the freedoms it was established to protect.”
Joining Montana and Idaho in this brief are Attorneys General Steve Marshall (Alabama), Treg Taylor (Alaska), Tim Griffin (Arkansas), James Uthmeier (Florida), Christopher Carr (Georgia), Theodore Rokita (Indiana), Brenna Bird (Iowa), Kris Kobach (Kansas), Russell Coleman (Kentucky), Liz Murrill (Louisiana), Lynn Finch (Mississippi), Andrew Bailey (Missouri), Michael Hilgers (Nebraska), John Formella (New Hampshire), Drew Wrigley (North Dakota), Dave Yost (Ohio), Gentner Drummond (Oklahoma), Alan Wilson (South Carolina), Marty Jackley (South Dakota), Ken Paxton (Texas), Derek Brown (Utah), John McCuskey (West Virginia), Bridget Hill (Wyoming), Warren Peterson (President of the Arizona Senate), and Steven Montenegro (Speaker of the Arizona House).
In their brief, the attorneys general observe, “Act 52 prohibits public carry in, as relevant here, bars and restaurants serving alcohol, parks and beaches, and adjacent parking areas. Act 52’s so-called ‘default rule’ prohibits carrying a firearm on another’s property without express authorization. Act 52’s sweeping restrictions seek to convert many traditional public spaces into ‘sensitive places’ where firearms ‘could be prohibited consistent with the Second Amendment.’”
The 33-page brief may be read here.
According to the announcement from Knudsen’s office, “The Ninth Circuit created a circuit split by reversing the injunction on the “default rule.” The Second Circuit upheld an injunction on a nearly identical New York law while relying on the same precedent and same historical regulations as the Ninth Circuit. As a result, New Yorkers can exercise their Second Amendment right, while Hawaiians may not.”
