Overview
- The Court issued a 6–3 decision on June 25, 2026, reversing the Ninth Circuit and ruling that Hawaii’s 2023 law requiring property owners’ express authorization before permit holders may carry on private property open to the public violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
- Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, applying the 2022 Bruen framework and finding Hawaii’s historical analogies too weak to justify making nonconsent the default rule for publicly accessible private property.
- The ruling leaves intact the ability of individual property owners to bar guns by explicit prohibition and does not decide separate Hawaii bans on firearms in designated sensitive places such as beaches, parks, schools or playgrounds.
- The decision will directly affect similar 'permission-to-enter-armed' statutes in a small group of states, including California, New York, Maryland and New Jersey, and is likely to prompt litigation and statutory changes in those states.
- Coverage split reflects the court’s ideological divide: conservative outlets emphasize a Second Amendment victory and the Trump administration’s Justice Department backing, while liberal outlets and the three dissenting justices stress property‑owner rights and the decision’s limits on state regulation.