The Department of Justice is supporting an effort in front of the Supreme Court to overturn a gun law in Hawaii that makes it nearly impossible to carry a gun in public.

Hawaii passed legislation in 2023 that prohibits a person with a concealed carry permit from bringing a handgun onto beaches, playgrounds, bars and restaurants that serve liquor, and other “sensitive” locations. It also blocks carrying the weapon on any private property without prior authorization or clear signage granting permission from the owner.

The state passed the law in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down the state’s decades-old Sullivan law that made it nearly impossible for law-abiding persons to carry a gun in that state.

The liberal United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld Hawaii’s law stating, “Nothing in the text of the Second Amendment or otherwise suggests that a private property owner — even owners who open their private property to the public — must allow persons who bear arms to enter.”

The plaintiffs — three Hawaii gun owners and the Hawaii Firearms Coalition — say “The Ninth Circuit’s decision renders illusory the right to carry in public. The Ninth Circuit’s reliance on non-Founding Era analogues allows States to enact laws the ‘founding generation’ would have never allowed.”

The Justice Department filed a brief stating Hawaii’s law is “blatantly unconstitutional” and in conflict with Bruen because it effectively eliminates the right to carry a weapon in public.

The brief states that, “because it is virtually impossible to go about publicly without setting foot on private property open to the public — Hawaii’s law functions as a near-total ban on public carry.”

“In Hawaii, public-carry licensees who stop for gas with a pistol in the glove compartment risk a year in prison if they fail to obtain the gas-station owner’s unambiguous consent,” the brief goes on to state.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the government’s support of the plaintiffs in an X post. She notes that California, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York have similar laws that effectively ban public carry.

“So a win in this case will restore Second Amendment rights for millions of Americans,” Ms. Bondi said.

On Tuesday, the solicitor general for the Trump administration, John Sauer, filed a motion asking to participate in oral arguments at the Supreme Court stating, “The United States has a substantial interest in the preservation of the right to keep and bear arms and in the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment.”

The justices are expected to hear the case early next year and a decision could be released by the summer.