Supreme Court Voids Hawaii's 'Vampire' Gun Law

The Supreme Court has struck down a law in Hawaii that put strict limits on where people could carry guns. In a 6-3 decision Thursday, the court said Hawaii violated the Second Amendment by barring people from carrying guns onto privately owned property that's open to the public—think gas stations, hotels, shopping malls, etc.—unless the owner explicitly said it was OK, reports the Washington Post. The justices said that kind of default no-guns rule goes too far, building on the court's 2022 Bruen ruling that expanded the right to carry outside the home.

The AP notes that the Hawaii rule was sometimes known as the "vampire rule" because people with guns needed explicit permission to enter a premises, as vampires do in that genre's lore. Gun-rights advocates had cast the private-property rule as a backdoor attempt to nullify Bruen. The new ruling is expected to fuel challenges to similar post-Bruen laws in New York, New Jersey, California, and Maryland. Hawaii's 2023 law also designates 15 "sensitive places," including restaurants, parks, beaches, and youth centers, where guns remain off-limits, but those parts weren't before the court.