Hawaii is sticking to its guns—figuratively—regarding a recent court ruling that pertained to the right of open carry. The state has put together a 114-page argument and is requesting that the ruling by three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals be set aside and that the case go before the an 11-judge en banc panel. We can only surmise that they figure that with eight more judges from the undeniably liberal 9th Circuit, they’ll stand a better chance of getting a ruling in their favor.
In July, a three-judge panel ruled in favor of George Young, who has long fought for a permit to carry. Hawaii has a fairly stringent set of criteria for issuing carry permits. The chief of police of each county has the final say in determining whether to grant a permit, and they generally require than an applicant show reason to fear personal injury or attack on their property. Young contested the fact that he had twice been denied a permit, saying that the rules step on his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. His case was strengthened, in part, by the argument that Hawaii just uses that as an excuse to keep law-abiding citizens from carrying, airing statistics that show that the state has issued only four open-carry licenses in the past 18 years to average citizens.
It’s not enough that Hawaii’s liberal-leaning officials are acting like petulant teens because a court ruling went against their wishes and continue the argument themselves. Rather, they decided to shore up their case by recruiting Georgetown University Law professor Neal Kaytal, who served as Acting Solicitor General under President Obama, to fight their battle for them.
