While the title of this article may seem sensational, it is intended it to be objective and literal in the legal sense. Hawaii’s legislative response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision has created a concealed-carry permitting system that is, by design, practically impossible for a law-abiding citizen to navigate without committing a felony.
By establishing an exhaustive list of “sensitive places” and, more critically, imposing a default prohibition on all private property without express permission, the state has rendered a License to Carry (LTC), often referred to as a Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) permit, into a token gesture, not a meaningful means to exercise a constitutional right. For the permit holder, the legal risk outweighs the benefit, turning the simple act of leaving home while lawfully armed for self-defense into a legal gamble.
The Exhaustive List of Prohibitions
Hawaii law, primarily through Act 52 of 2023, has designated virtually all public-facing locations as off-limits “sensitive places.” A person with an LTC is generally prohibited from carrying a firearm, concealed or unconcealed, in any of the following locations and their adjacent parking areas:
- Government & Administration: Any building or office owned, leased or used by the federal government, state or a county, including courthouses and polling places.
- Education: The campus or premises of any public or private school, college, university, preschool or childcare facility.
- Healthcare: Any public or private hospital, mental-health facility, nursing home, clinic, medical office or urgent-care facility.
- Recreation & Assembly: Any beach, playground, park, library, stadium, movie theater, concert hall or zoo, as well as any public gathering or special event requiring a permit.
- Commerce & Transit: Any bar or restaurant serving alcohol for consumption on the premises, banks and financial institutions and any place or vehicle used for public transportation or public transit, including bus shelters and terminals, trains and airports.
- Correctional & Shelter Facilities: Any adult or juvenile detention or correctional facility, prison or jail, and any shelter or residential facility serving unhoused persons, victims of domestic violence or at-risk children.
The volume of these prohibitions means that nearly every essential errand or public activity requires leaving one’s firearm secured elsewhere and not carried.
The Zero-Carry Default on Private Property
The most profound restriction is the rule governing private property. Hawaii law flips the traditional standard of “carry allowed unless posted otherwise” to a default of prohibition on all private property unless the owner or manager has provided express authorization.
This authorization must be signified by unambiguous written or verbal permission, or the posting of clear and conspicuous “Guns Allowed” signage. Since most businesses will not proactively post such signs and risk the no-win dilemma of entering a heated public debate that is likely tangential to their business operations, the law essentially creates a blanket ban on carrying in retail stores, gas stations, supermarkets and countless other commercial locations. A licensed carrier walking into an unposted convenience store, unless they have received verbal permission beforehand, is therefore committing a crime.
Where Can One Legally Carry?
After accounting for the hundreds of “sensitive places” and the default ban on private property, the list of locations where a licensed carrier can reliably and confidently carry a firearm for self-defense is narrow: the licensee’s own residence or place of business, and public right of ways. Even these few exceptions are riddled with potential criminal pitfalls:
- Public Sidewalks and Streets: A licensed individual can carry while traveling along a public right-of-way. The Catch: a. Onemight unintentionally pass within the prohibited perimeter (e.g., 1,000 feet) of a permitted public gathering or event. b. One may be deemed to be “loitering or remaining” in a sensitive place if the public right-of-way touches or crosses one of the prohibited premises, and they stop for any reason other than necessary travel. Stopping to check a phone, tying a shoe or pausing for any reason deemed “unnecessary” could result in criminal charges.
- Inside a Vehicle: A licensed individual can carry a loaded firearm in their vehicle. The Catch: a. One has not yet secured the firearm in a locked container when entering an adjacent parking area of a prohibited location (e.g., a bank parking lot). b. One is traveling to a prohibited location to simply drop off a non-carrying passenger and does not secure the firearm. If the carrier enters the adjacent parking area of a prohibited location (like a beach park or hospital), they must immediately secure the firearm in a locked container (a trunk or glove box alone doesn’t count) out of sight from the vehicle’s exterior.
- Unposted Private Property: This is effectively a trap. If one hasn’t received express authorization (verbal, written or clear “Guns Allowed” signage) from the owner, lessee, operator or manager—the default rule is prohibition. If the carrier does not have unambiguous verbal permission from the manager, they are committing a crime.
The Legal Battleground
The central challenge to Hawaii’s law, specifically the default prohibition on carrying on private property open to the public without express permission, is currently proceeding to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Wolford v. Lopez (Docket No. 24-1046). The Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari on October 3, 2025, and oral arguments are expected early next year. The case will review the Ninth Circuit’s decision to uphold the Hawaii law and is considered a significant Second Amendment case following the 2022 Bruen ruling. In summary, the challenge argues that by flipping the private property standard, the state has effectively created a near-complete ban on public carry, rendering the right to bear arms illusory and nullifying the spirit of the Bruen decision. The outcome of this case will ultimately determine the legal viability of Hawaii’s regulatory framework.
Note that this article has not touched on the overly complicated, expensive and time-consuming processes that one must go through to get an LTC in the first place, which then requires the licensee to start the whole process over from scratch every four years. That obstruction aside, Hawaii's concealed-carry law, in its current formulation, is a functional prohibition disguised in the language of regulation. By designating a staggering number of “sensitive places” and applying a restrictive private property standard, the state has created a system where carrying a firearm for routine self-defense is a near-certain path to criminal liability. For the law-abiding citizen, the license to carry is a fraud—a permission slip to risk inadvertent arrest at nearly every turn. Until the courts intervene, citizens in Hawaii have this right in name only.
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