Decided Jun 25, 2026, 6-3 Updated 111 days ago
Where it stands
Hawaii's default rule on carry onto private property open to the public. Decided 6-3 striking down the provision, opinion by Justice Alito.
The legal question
Can Hawaii bar permit holders from carrying onto private property that is open to the public unless the owner has given permission?
The ruling
The Court held 6-3 that Hawaii's requirement violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett. Justice Barrett wrote a concurrence joined by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch as to Part II-B. Justice Kagan dissented, and Justice Jackson dissented in an opinion joined by Justice Sotomayor.
In legal terms
After Bruen, Hawaii passed a 2023 law making it illegal for a licensed concealed-carry holder to bring a handgun onto private property open to the public unless the owner gave express permission. Critics called it the "vampire rule," because, like a vampire, a carrier needed an invitation to enter. A federal district judge blocked parts of the law in August 2023. In September 2024 a Ninth Circuit panel upheld Hawaii's rule, reasoning that owners could grant permission orally, in writing or by signs. The same panel struck down California's similar rule, which allowed permission by sign only. The Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc in January 2025.
The Supreme Court granted review on October 3, 2025, limited to how the Second Amendment applies to publicly accessible private property, and heard argument on January 20, 2026. On June 25, 2026 it held the Hawaii requirement violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The majority found the restriction falls within the Second Amendment's text, making it presumptively unconstitutional, and reasoned that Hawaii's reversal of the common-law default, under which entry is allowed unless prohibited, imposed a significant new burden.
What this means, in plain English
Picture walking into a grocery store, a gas station or a restaurant with your legally carried handgun. Hawaii said that was a crime unless the owner had already said yes. Because most owners never say anything, that meant you could not carry almost anywhere you went, which gun owners saw as a back-door carry ban.
The Supreme Court struck that down, 6 to 3. The state cannot make "no" the default for places that are open to the public.
What it does not mean, as far as we can tell from the reporting: a business can still say no. A shop owner can still post a sign or ask you to leave. What changed is that the state cannot make you ask permission first. Read the opinion for details, and check your state's current rules before you carry.
Permit holders in Hawaii no longer need an owner's permission to carry onto private property open to the public, such as shops and restaurants. Similar consent-based default rules in other states are now exposed to challenge, and the Second Circuit had already struck down a comparable New York provision in Antonyuk v. James.
Timeline
Key terms
- Bruen (2022)
- The Supreme Court case that struck down New York's rule requiring a special reason to get a carry permit. It set the test courts use today: if the Second Amendment's text covers what you did, the government must show its law fits the country's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
- Circuit
- The U.S. has 13 federal appeals courts. Twelve are regional (the 1st through 11th Circuits and the D.C. Circuit) and cover specific states. Their rulings bind the states in their region.
- En banc
- When all (or a large group of) the judges of an appeals court rehear a case, instead of the usual three-judge panel.
States affected
Sources: court dockets, the Federal Register, DOJ releases and Congress.gov. Informational only, not legal advice. Items marked Unverified are awaiting review.