Hawaii’s Supreme Court recently went against the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that “the spirit of Aloha” supersedes the High Court’s decisions regarding America’s Second Amendment constitutional rights.
The Hawaii Supreme Court has issued a ruling flagrantly ignoring the U.S. Constitution, holding that there is no right to bear arms in Hawaii and any resident may be imprisoned for carrying one.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held what the Constitution obviously says: That… pic.twitter.com/rbEBjOMhfa
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 8, 2024
In State v. Wilson, Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Todd Eddins wrote in his decision that states “retain the authority to require” individuals to obtain permits before carrying a firearm in public.
In his decision, Eddins said that while Hawaii’s Constitution “mirrors” the Second Amendment, “We read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court.”
“We hold that there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public,” Eddins
added.
“The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities,” Eddins wrote. “The history of the Hawaiian Islands does not include a society where armed people move about the community to possibly combat the deadly aims of others.”
The Hawaii-based court case, State v. Wilson, began in December 2017 concerning when Hawaiian Christopher Wilson was arrested and charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition, according to Fox News, which reported that Wilson’s weapon was not registered in the state, despite him telling officers that he purchased the weapon in Florida years before.
Wilson argued that he was prosecuted for carrying a self-defense firearm and that his Second Amendment rights were violated.
The Daily Wire reported that in 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Americans’ right to “keep and bear arms” in D.C. v. Heller. In 2012, the High Court ruled in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” means more than protecting yourself at home.
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court setting a pro-Second Amendment precedent in its past decisions, the Hawaiian Supreme Court recently argued that such actions resemble a wrongful interpretation of the Constitution. The state Supreme Court reversed a decision set by a lower court that found Wilson’s constitutional rights were violated by the charges against him.
“We believe it is a misplaced view to think that today’s public safety laws must look like laws passed long ago. Smoothbore, muzzle-loaded, and powder-and-ramrod muskets were not exactly useful to colonial era mass murders,” Hawaii’s Supreme Court wrote.
