Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii's private-property concealed-carry restriction 6-3, rejecting Black Code as historical precedent

The Supreme Court on Thursday handed down a Second Amendment ruling striking down Hawaii's so-called "vampire rule," a policy gun-rights challengers described as requiring lawful gun owners to be "invited in" before entering businesses while armed. The 6-3 decision in Wolford v. Lopez held that the state cannot mandate that licensed carriers obtain express permission from private property owners open to the public before entering with a firearm.

Central to the case was Hawaii's effort to justify the law under the historical-tradition test established by the Court's 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. Among the historical laws Hawaii cited was an 1865 Louisiana statute enacted as part of the post-Civil War Black Codes, which made it unlawful to carry firearms onto another person's property without the owner's consent. Justice Alito rejected that statute outright, writing that it "cannot be taken seriously" as evidence of the Second Amendment's original public meaning.

Kevin O'Grady, the attorney who represented the plaintiffs, told Fox News Digital that the state's reliance on the Black Code was "disgraceful," stating: "It is disgraceful that any state would rely on a law specifically aimed at taking away the Second Amendment rights or any constitutional right of Black Americans." He said he was not surprised Hawaii cited it, describing the state as "diametrically opposed to the Second Amendment."