Right to Carry Gun in Public Debated at Ninth Circuit

By Nicholas Iovino
Courthouse News
September 24th. 2020

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — In a case challenging a Hawaii gun restriction that could affect state gun laws across the country, an attorney told an en banc Ninth Circuit panel Thursday that the Second Amendment doesn’t categorically bar all restrictions on carrying guns outside the home.

“Hawaii’s law is squarely rooted in a long historical tradition going back seven centuries,” said attorney Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells in Washington D.C., who represents the state and county of Hawaii. “That tradition shows that carrying firearms in public without good cause has never been part of the right to keep and bear arms.”

In July 2018, a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel ruled that carrying a gun in public is a constitutional right and that Hawaii cannot deny permits to all non-security guard civilians who wish to exercise that right.