HCC: Baker Lawsuit Draws Fire From Brady Campaign

Brady Center Urges Appeals Court to Dismiss Challenge to Hawaii Gun Laws

The Brady Center’s brief cites data showing that Hawaii’s strong gun laws have helped Hawaii achieve the lowest gun death rate in the nation.

News Release from The Brady Center

(WASHINGTON DC) - The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a brief today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit urging the court to dismiss a challenge to Hawaii’s strong gun laws restricting the carrying of loaded guns in public.

In April, Senior Judge Alan C. Kay in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii dismissed the lawsuit that is now on appeal, finding that Hawaii’s gun laws restricting public gun carrying are consistent with the Second Amendment.

“The answer to gun violence is not more gun violence. After shootings in Aurora and Oak Creek, Americans are saying loudly, ‘We are better than this,’ ” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Center. “Hawaii understands that we are better than a nation that allows dangerous people to carry more guns on our streets and in our neighborhoods. We can respect the Second Amendment right to bear arms and still make communities safer for our children and families. ”

The lawsuit, Baker v. Kealoha, challenges Hawaii gun laws limiting public carrying of loaded guns to “exceptional case[s]” because of the severe risks posed by guns in public. The Brady Center’s brief urges the court to dismiss the lawsuit, citing legal rulings from around the nation that the Second Amendment is limited to a narrow right to possess guns in the home for self-defense and does not grant a right to carry loaded guns in public.

The Brady Center’s brief cites studies showing that guns in public expose all members of society to great risks, as guns are used far more often to kill and wound innocent victims than to kill and wound criminals, and guns are also used far more often to intimidate and threaten than they are used to thwart crimes.

The Brady Center’s brief also cites data showing that Hawaii’s strong gun laws have helped Hawaii achieve the lowest gun death rate in the nation, less than a third the national average.

The Brady Center is being represented by attorneys with the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project; Mark M. Murakami of Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert in Honolulu and; Jonathan Diesenhaus, Chartey Quarcoo, and Matt Sullivan from Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.

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The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a national non-profit organization working to reduce gun deaths and injuries in America through education, research, and legal advocacy. The programs of the Brady Center complement its sister organization, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Dan Gross is the President of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.