Federal Court Says Hawaii Must Allow Open Carry of Guns
(Worthy News) – A panel of judges from the Ninth Circuit court of appeals ruled on Tuesday that Hawaii’s effective ban on the open carry of guns is unconstitutional.
In a 2-1 ruling, the court found that the Second Amendment protects the right to openly carry a firearm in public for the purpose of self-defense. Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain was joined by Judge Sandra S. Ikuta in the majority while Judge Richard R. Clifton dissented. The majority reversed the lower court ruling that upheld Hawaii’s effective ban on all forms of gun carry in the state.
“For better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense,” Judge O’Scannlain wrote for the majority. “We would thus flout the Constitution if we were to hold that, ‘in regulating the manner of bearing arms, the authority of [the State] has no other limit than its own discretion.’ While many respectable scholars and activists might find virtue in a firearms-carry regime that restricts the right to a privileged few, ‘the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.'” [ Source: Washington Free Beacon (Read More…) ]