Judge in Hawaii Stops Ban on Carrying Guns Legally in Most Places

AmmoLand ^ | August 11, 2023 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

On August 8, 2023, In the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Judge  Leslie E. Kobayashi issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the case of Wolford v. Lopez.

The case was filed on June 23, 2023, and has been written about previously on AmmoLand.  The plaintiffs asked for a TRO for five of fifteen so-called “sensitive places” in the new Hawaii law. Judge Kobayashi issued the TRO for most of the places asked for by the plaintiffs, with some exceptions. Whether the other places which are labeled as “sensitive places” in the law will be upheld by Judge Kobayashi remains to be seen.

Early in the opinion which established the TRO, Judge Kobayashi said the case was a conflict between safety concerns and the Second Amendment. From the opinion of Judge Kobayashi, page 2:

It is this powerful collision between Hawai`i officials’ concern for the safety and welfare of its citizens and “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments[’] [protections of] an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home” that is before this Court today.

One of the things determined by the opinion is the concern for safety and welfare is mostly illusory.  From page 87, when determining the balance of equities in the proposed TRO:

According to the GOA Amicus Brief, the vast majority of individuals in the United States with concealed carry permits are law-abiding. See GOA Amicus Brief at 20–25 (discussing the statistics of people with concealed carry permits to support the proposition that people with concealed carry permits are significantly less likely to commit gun-related crimes). Although the State raises important safety concerns, it fails to demonstrate that the public safety concerns overcome the public’s interest in preventing constitutional violations.

The plaintiffs asked for relief with a TRO for five areas. Those were:

[marktwain]

District Judge Kobayashi agreed with the plaintiffs and granted a temporary restraining order for most of the areas they asked for.

[bigfootbob]

Meanwhile the igit gun owning voter skeptics sit on their LazyBoy’s.

[stars & stripes forever]

Lawlessness, no guns = Marshall Law, no freedom.

[Shady]

Martial Law.

[stars & stripes forever]

Thanks. Spell check problem. (me)

[DeplorablePaul]

Gun free zones invite a shooter to attack defenseless victims. States rushed to designate safe zones to get around the last SCOTUS case. Stupid.

[texas booster]

The five areas mentioned in the lawsuit do seem overly broad:

the portions of Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-A(a)(1) that prohibit carrying firearms in parking areas owned, leased, or used by the State or a county which share the parking area with non-governmental entities, are not reserved for State or county employees, or do not exclusively serve the State or county building;

the entirety of Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 134-A(a)(4) and (a)(12);

the portions of Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-A(a)(9) prohibiting the carrying of firearms in beaches, parks, and their adjacent parking areas; and

the portion of Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-E that prohibits carrying firearms on private properties held open to the public.

[marktwain]

The problem with a great many leftists is they repeat their lies so often they believe them themselves.

A great many times, it is a simple slogan which sounds plausible, but which there is no actual evidence for. The slogan becomes "truth", because the party says it, and it "sounds" plausible.

[marktwain]

My suspicion is most of the 15 areas will be struck down by the time this case is concluded. Here is a link to the statute in question.

Here are the 15 areas labeled as "sensitive places" under the new Hawaii law:

(1) Any building or office owned, leased, or used by the State or a county, and adjacent grounds and parking areas, including any portion of a building or office used for court proceedings, legislative business, contested case hearings, agency rulemaking, or other activities of state or county government;

(2) Any public or private hospital, mental health facility, nursing home, clinic, medical office, urgent care facility, or other place at which medical or health services are customarily provided, including adjacent parking areas;

(3) Any adult or juvenile detention or correctional facility, prison, or jail, including adjacent parking areas;

(4) Any bar or restaurant serving alcohol or intoxicating liquor as defined in section 281-1 for consumption on the premises, including adjacent parking areas;

(5) Any stadium, movie theater, or concert hall, or any place at which a professional, collegiate, high school, amateur, or student sporting event is being held, including adjacent parking areas;

(6) All public library property, including buildings, facilities, meeting rooms, spaces used for community programming, adjacent grounds, and parking areas;

(7) The campus or premises of any public or private community college, college, or university, and adjacent parking areas, including buildings, classrooms, laboratories, research facilities, artistic venues, and athletic fields or venues;

(8) The campus or premises of any public school, charter school, private school, preschool, summer camp, or child care facility as defined in section 346-151, including adjacent parking areas, but not including: (A) A private residence at which education is provided for children who are all related to one another by blood, marriage, or adoption; or(B) A dwelling when not used as a child care facility;

(9) Any beach, playground, park, or adjacent parking area, including any state park, state monument, county park, tennis court, golf course, swimming pool, or other recreation area or facility under control, maintenance, and management of the State or a county, but not including an authorized target range or shooting complex;

(10) Any shelter, residential, or programmatic facility or adjacent parking area operated by a government entity or charitable organization serving unhoused persons, victims of domestic violence, or children, including children involved in the juvenile justice system;

(11) Any voter service center as defined in section 11-1 or other polling place, including adjacent parking areas;

(12) The premises of any bank or financial institution as defined in section 211D-1, including adjacent parking areas;

(13) Any place, facility, or vehicle used for public transportation or public transit, and adjacent parking areas, including buses, paratransit vans, bus shelters and terminals (but not including bus stops located on public sidewalks), trains, rail stations, and airports;

(14) Any amusement park, aquarium, carnival, circus, fair, museum, water park, or zoo, including adjacent parking areas; or

(15) Any public gathering, public assembly, or special event conducted on property open to the public, including any demonstration, march, rally, vigil, protest, picketing, or other public assembly, for which a permit is obtained from the federal government, the State, or a county, and the sidewalk or street immediately adjacent to the public gathering, public assembly, or special event; provided that there are signs clearly and conspicuously posted at visible places along the perimeter of the public gathering, public assembly, or special event.

[DeplorablePaul]

That’s how propaganda works. The commies depend on the technology to repeat big lies until the masses are brain washed.

[Scrambler Bob]

Just list the ‘insensitive places’, the list will be shorter:

(1) Your own bathroom, if sitting alone on the pot.

[chrisinoc]

An Obama judge.

From Wikipedia: On April 21, 2010, Kobayashi was nominated to a seat as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii by Barack Obama. She was nominated to fill the seat vacated by Helen Gillmor who took senior status in 2009. The United States Senate confirmed the nomination on December 18, 2010.

[Shady]

That’s quite all right!