By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
On a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down Hawaii’s restrictive concealed carry statute requiring people with carry permits to first get permission from businesses before they enter their premises—referred to as the “default rule” or “Vampire rule” in a case known as Wolford v. Lopez.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Thursday’s ruling will also nullify similar laws in California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
It was the second major gun rights decision in as many weeks. Earlier, the high court ruled that laws automatically prohibiting gun ownership by people who regularly smoke marijuana, even though they demonstrate no danger to the public, violate the Second Amendment.
Writing for the Court, Associate Justice Samuel Alito stated said Hawaii’s requirement that property owners post signs specifically allowing concealed carry on their premises “hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.” He said Hawaii’s rule “burdens those wishing to exercise their Second Amendment right.”
“This law,” Alito said, “departs sharply from the standard common-law rule on access to private property held open to the public. Under that rule, everyone, including those lawfully carrying firearms, may enter unless expressly prohibited from doing so.”
The ruling—with liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan dissenting—reversed a decision by the liberal Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and remanded the case back for “further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” The dissenters argued that the ruling infringes on private property rights.
Thursday’s decision is yet another setback for the gun prohibition lobby. A spokesperson for Everytown Law called the decision “disappointing.” Anti-gun organizations have lobbied for all manner of restrictions to limit where legally-armed citizens may carry firearms for personal protection, to the point that they may be discouraged from doing so altogether.
WSLS News is calling the ruling “a win for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration.” It is a major victory for gun rights organizations, which uniformly supported the plaintiffs, including the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Gun Owners of America and others.
In a statement to the media shortly after the decision was announced, SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut observed, “Our stance is that one of the most fundamental underlying principles of the Second Amendment is the right to carry in public for self-defense. If a business does not want you to carry a firearm on the premises, the burden should be on the proprietor, not the private citizen, which would be in line with the ‘no soliciting’ or ‘no shoes, no shirt, no service’ signs we’re all familiar with. Today the Supreme Court told Hawaii that such transparent attempts at banning constitutionally protected conduct will not be tolerated.”
Likewise, CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb stated, “We have always held that the right to keep and bear arms does not end at someone’s front door. People have a right to carry firearms in public for personal protection, and that includes shopping malls, supermarkets, hotels, gas stations and other places. If a business does not want firearms on its premises, the responsibility for posting that falls on the establishment.”
