The United States Supreme Court declined to intervene in a case from the State of Hawaii today. That case was a challenge by a citizen of Hawaii against the state over charges of carrying a loaded handgun without a license.
The decision in favor of Hawaii’s strict anti-gun violence laws comes as a surprise, as the current conservative makeup of the Court yields very few decisions based in consitutionality, and not bitter partisanship.
NPR reports,
“The Supreme Court declined to intervene or overturn a Hawaii State Supreme Court decision that allowed the state to prosecute a man carrying a loaded pistol without a license.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito criticized the Hawaii court’s ruling, but supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s move on technical grounds. Thomas wrote that the court should hear an “appropriate” case to “make clear that Americans are always free to invoke the Second Amendment as a defense against unconstitutional firearms-licensing schemes.”
The case stems from a 2017 incident involving citizen Christopher Wilson, who was hiking in Hawaii when he was spotted and accused of trespassing by a neighbor. Once police arrived at the scene, Wilson told the officers that he possessed a loaded handgun.
Wilson, of course, did not have a license to carry the firearm, and therefore was arrested. The State of Hawaii then brought criminal charges against the man for his unlawful possession and transportation of a loaded firearm.
The most recent challenge, denied by the Supreme Court, was started in 2022. In his decision, Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court’s most conservative member, penned in response,
“Had the Hawaii Supreme Court followed its duty to consider the merits of Wilson’s defense, the licensing scheme’s unconstitutionality should have been apparent.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Wilson and his team will be filing another appeal. The response from Thomas, concurred by Justice Gorsuch, may open the door for the wealthy interests of the gun lobby to throw their support behind yet another challenge.
As children continue to suffer, and violence continues to rage in our streets, a wealthy aristocratic class in Washington D.C. continues to protect a firearm industry hellbent on endangering the public, all for the sake of their profits.
