Overview
- The Court heard arguments in Wolford v. Lopez over Hawaii’s 2023 law that bars carrying guns onto private property open to the public without the owner’s express authorization.
- Several conservative justices challenged Hawaii’s reliance on an 1865 Louisiana Black Code as a Bruen analogue, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pressed why such laws should be excluded from the historical record.
- Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued that Black Codes were unconstitutional from inception and should not count as valid historical analogues under the Bruen framework.
- Commentary on the argument noted apparent skepticism from the Court’s conservative majority toward Hawaii’s default-consent regime, though no decision has been issued.
- The case could affect similar measures in states like California, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey, and it may also prompt clarification of the Court’s sensitive-places analysis, including the proposed government-security principle.