BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit supporting the challenge of Hawaii’s “sensitive places” statute which places broad prohibitions on where legally armed private citizens may carry firearms for personal protection.
The lawsuit was filed by the Hawaii Firearms Coalition and three private citizens, Atom Kasprzycki, Alison Wolford and Jason Wolford, for whom the case is named. The defendant is Hawaii Attorney General Anne E. Lopez, in her official capacity. The case is known as Wolford v. Lopez.
SAF’s amicus brief was prepared by attorneys Edward A. Paltzik, Meredith Lloyd and Serge Krimnus at
Bochner PLLC in New York.
“Hawaii adopted this restrictive statute in response to last year’s Supreme Court Bruen ruling,” said SAF
founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The sweeping ban at public places, including beaches and parks effectively eviscerates the constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense, and we can’t allow this to go unchallenged.”
“Hawaii’s new statute contains an untenably broad definition of ‘sensitive places’ and creates a severe burden on the right to bear arms,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “The prohibition covers such a broad swath of public locations that it cannot possibly fall within any analogous firearms regulations in effect during the Founding era. It clearly is not consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation.”
“As we explain in our brief,” Gottlieb said, “the historic tradition of ‘sensitive places’ firearms regulation
clearly indicates that sweeping disarmament in outdoor recreational spaces is without historical analogue from the appropriate period. We contend the court should not allow Hawaii to essentially nullify the Second Amendment in parks and on the beaches with this statute.”