Lance Rankin here, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. The video above is from Washington Gun Law, and it walks through one of the stranger Second Amendment cases in recent memory: the Hawaii Supreme Court’s ruling that the “Aloha Spirit” apparently outweighs the U.S. Constitution. That case, Wilson v. Hawaii, has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Second Amendment Foundation filed an amicus brief that lays out the stakes about as clearly as anyone could. This is my summary of their argument, with credit to Washington Gun Law for the breakdown.
What Hawaii’s court did
On February 7, 2024, the Hawaii Supreme Court held that there is no constitutional right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. Not a narrow ruling about permits or sensitive places. A flat declaration that the right doesn’t exist outside your home, dressed up with language about the state’s “Aloha Spirit.”
The problem is that the U.S. Supreme Court has already answered this question. Heller and the cases that followed it recognize a right to carry a firearm outside the home for lawful purposes, including self-protection. A state court doesn’t get to disagree with that any more than I get to disagree with the tax code.
The Supremacy Clause argument
The SAF brief rests on the Supremacy Clause, which makes federal law and federal court rulings controlling over state law and state courts. The way it works is simple enough that I explain it to customers at the counter: U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of constitutional rights set a floor. A state can protect rights more generously than the federal minimum if its own constitution allows. Washington State, for instance, gives its residents stronger protection against searches than the Fourth Amendment requires. What a state cannot do is dip below the floor.
Hawaii went below the floor and planted a flag there. If its court had read the right to carry more broadly than federal precedent, nobody would have a case. It read the right out of existence instead, and that’s the whole dispute.
Why this matters outside Hawaii
The SAF argues the Supreme Court should take the case not only for Hawaii’s citizens but to put other defiant lower courts on notice. New York, Illinois, and California have all passed laws that test the edges of Bruen-era precedent, but Hawaii is currently alone in refusing to recognize any public carry right at all. Let one state court get away with ignoring a direct Supreme Court holding and you’ve taught every other one that the precedent is optional. That’s bad for gun owners, and honestly it’s bad for anyone who ever expects a court to follow rules it dislikes.
Where it stands
As of this writing, the petition is in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and we’re waiting to see whether the justices take it, summarily reverse it, or let it sit. Court dockets move slowly and this post will age, so check the current status of Wilson v. Hawaii before you cite it in an argument. And if you want the full legal detail, go watch the Washington Gun Law video and read the SAF brief yourself rather than taking my word for it.
Here in Texas we have it considerably better. If you’re new to carrying, my guides on Texas constitutional carry and the Texas LTC cover what the law actually allows. Know the law where you live and where you travel. It’s part of the job of owning a gun.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
