A federal judge has halted the implementation of a recently introduced ban on firearms at Hawaii's renowned beaches and other public spaces such as banks, bars, and parks. The ban faced
opposition from three Hawaii residents and the gun rights organization Hawaii Firearms Coalition.
US District Judge Leslie Kobayashi in Honolulu issued the ruling on Tuesday, citing a significant US Supreme Court decision from the previous year that expanded the interpretation of gun rights. The judge asserted that the ban potentially violated the rights of individuals with firearm permits to carry guns in public, as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
The restrictions in question were put into effect after a ruling by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court in June 2022, which established that the Second Amendment's protection of an individual's right to "keep and bear arms" also extends to the carrying of handguns in public for self-defense purposes. Photo by Cristo Vlahos, Wikimedia commons.