SCOTUS Rejects Hawaii's Gun Rights Workaround

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert to discuss the Supreme Court's decision in Wolford v. Lopez, a significant Second Amendment case arising from Hawaii.After the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Bruen, Hawaii enacted a law making it a crime to carry a firearm on private property open to the public unless the property owner expressly consented. The Supreme Court recently rejected that approach, concluding that Hawaii's law lacked historical support and effectively undermined the right to carry recognized in Bruen.John and Jacob discuss the Court's reasoning, Justice Alito's concurrence, the debate over historical analogues such as Reconstruction-era Black Codes, and why constitutional rights cannot vary based on what one court called the "spirit of aloha."The conversation also explores what the decision could mean for NCLA's challenge to Illinois' Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID) card system in Laurent v. Kelly. Jacob explains why Illinois similarly flips the normal presumption of constitutional rights by requiring citizens to obtain government permission before possessing a firearm—even in their own homes.The episode highlights the Supreme Court's renewed attention to Second Amendment cases and why recent decisions may strengthen challenges to laws that condition constitutional rights on prior government approval.