Supreme Court strikes down blue state’s ‘vampire rule’ in major win for gun rights

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the state of Hawaii, granting concealed carry holders a huge victory in the blue state in a 6-3 decision Thursday.

The Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff in Wolford v. Lopez, who contested Hawaii's state law requiring a property owner's explicit permission to allow lawful gun owners to bring firearms into public businesses.

"Hawaii's law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms," Justice Samuel Alito wrote. "This regime hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives."

The ruling reverses a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which had upheld Hawaii's restrictions after the state enacted them in response to the Supreme Court's 2022 Bruen decision.

After Bruen struck down New York's "proper cause" licensing requirement and held that Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense, Hawaii overhauled its firearms laws.

Among the new provisions was a requirement that concealed-carry permit holders could not bring firearms onto another person's private property, including businesses open to the public, unless the owner provided express authorization through signage or verbal or written permission. Among Second Amendment rights advocacy circles, the law became known as the "vampire rule."

Alito wrote the law could subject lawful concealed-carry permit holders to criminal liability for doing routine things like stopping at a gas station, grocery store or pharmacy while carrying a firearm.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.