The U.S. Supreme Court handed gun rights advocates a major victory Thursday, ruling 6-3 that Hawaii’s restrictions on concealed carry permit holders violate the Second Amendment.
In Wolford v. Lopez, the high court struck down a Hawaii law that barred lawful concealed-carry permit holders from bringing firearms onto most private property open to the public—including stores, restaurants and gas stations—unless the property owner gave explicit permission.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the law imposed an unconstitutional burden on Americans exercising their right to carry firearms for self-defense.
“Hawaii’s law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” Alito wrote. “This regime hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.”
The decision overturns a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which had upheld the restrictions after Hawaii enacted them in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 Bruen decision.
In that ruling, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s “proper cause” requirement for obtaining a concealed-carry permit, holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.
Following Bruen, Hawaii rewrote its firearms laws, including a provision requiring concealed-carry permit holders to obtain express permission—through posted signs or verbal or written authorization—before carrying a firearm onto another person’s private property, even if that property was open to the public.
The provision became known among Second Amendment advocates as the “vampire rule,” because lawful gun owners could not enter unless they were expressly invited.
Alito said the practical effect of the law was to expose otherwise law-abiding permit holders to criminal penalties for carrying while making routine stops during everyday life.
Under Hawaii’s law, he wrote, a concealed-carry permit holder could face criminal liability simply for entering a grocery store, gas station or pharmacy while carrying a firearm without the owner’s express consent.
This story is developing…
🚨 BREAKING: The Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 that Hawaii's law banning licensed concealed-carry permit holders from carrying handguns on private property open to the public is unconstitutional!
Major SCOTUS win for the Second Amendment. pic.twitter.com/jLOO2WnYkh
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 25, 2026
