NRA-ILA Files Amicus Brief in Case Challenging Hawaii’s “Sensitive Places” law.

News Release from NRA-ILA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2023

On Thursday, NRA-ILA filed an amicus curiae (or friend of the court) brief in support of a challenge to Hawaii’s new “sensitive places” law, which makes it illegal to carry firearms throughout most of the state.

Last year, the Supreme Court clarified that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm for self-defense outside the home and that states cannot implement discretionary carry permit schemes that require applicants to show “proper cause” to obtain a permit. In response, states like Hawaii have enacted sweeping “sensitive places” laws.

“Essentially, Hawaii replaced a regime under which no one could obtain a license to carry a firearm with a regime under which there is almost nowhere a person can legally carry,” the brief states. “It amounts to the same thing: an almost complete evisceration of the fundamental right to carry a firearm outside the home for self-defense.”

“This goes much further than the historical record allows and flagrantly disregards the Supreme Court’s holdings,” the brief continues.

NRA-ILA has backed lawsuits challenging these laws in other states, including Maryland and New Jersey, where we have obtained injunctions preventing the laws from taking effect. This brief seeks to continue those successes in the aloha state.

The case is called Wolford v. Lopez. It is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.