A ruling by Hawaii’s high court saying that a man can be prosecuted for carrying a gun in public without a permit cites crime-drama TV series “The Wire” and invokes the “spirit of Aloha” in an apparent rebuke of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights nationwide.
FILE – Handguns are displayed at a gun shop on June 23, 2022, in Honolulu. A ruling by Hawaii’s high court saying that a man can be prosecuted for carrying a gun in public without a permit uses pop culture references in an apparent rebuke of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights nationwide. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)(AP)
“The thing about the old days, they the old days,” the unanimous Hawaii Supreme Court ruling issued Wednesday said, borrowing a quote from season four, episode three of the HBO series to express that the culture from the founding of the country shouldn’t dictate contemporary life.
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Authored by Justice Todd Eddins, the opinion goes on to say, “The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities. ”
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The ruling stems from a 2017 case against Christopher Wilson, who had a loaded pistol in his front waistband when police were called after a Maui landowner reported seeing a group of men on his property at night.
The handgun was unregistered in Hawaii, and Wilson had not obtained or applied for a permit to own the gun, the ruling said. Wilson told police he legally bought the gun in Florida in 2013.
Wilson’s first motion to dismiss the charges argued that prosecuting him for possession of a firearm for self-defense violated his right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It was denied.
Then in 2022, a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen upended gun laws nationwide, including in Hawaii, which has long had some of the strictest gun laws in the country — and some of the lowest rates of gun violence.
Just as the Bruen decision came out, Wilson filed a second motion to dismiss the case. A judge granted the dismissal, and the state appealed.
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Ben Lowenthal of the Hawaii public defender’s office, Wilson’s attorney, said Thursday his office is “taking stock of our options,” including seeking review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wilson denied trespassing and said he and his friends “were hiking that night to look at the moon and Native Hawaiian plants,” according to the recent ruling.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez hailed the ruling as a “landmark decision that affirms the constitutionality of crucial gun-safety legislation.”
The ruling reflects a “culture in Hawaii that’s very resistant to change” and a judiciary and government that has been “recalcitrant” in accepting Bruen, said Alan Beck, an attorney not involved in the Wilson case.
“The use of pop culture references to attempt to rebuke the Supreme Court’s detailed historical analysis is evidence this is not a well-reasoned opinion,” said Beck, who has challenged Hawaii’s gun restrictions.
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Beck represents three Maui residents who are challenging a Hawaii law enacted last year that prohibits carrying a firearm on the beach and in other places, including banks, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.
A federal judge in Honolulu granted a preliminary injunction, which prevents the state from enforcing the law. The state appealed, and oral arguments are scheduled for April before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bruen set a new standard for interpreting gun laws, such that modern firearm laws must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
“We believe it is a misplaced view to think that today’s public safety laws must look like laws passed long ago,” Eddins, of the Hawaii high court, wrote. “Smoothbore, muzzle-loaded, and powder-and-ramrod muskets were not exactly useful to colonial era mass murderers. And life is a bit different now, in a nation with a lot more people, stretching to islands in the Pacific Ocean.”
The Bruen ruling “snubs federalism principles,” Eddins wrote, asserting that under Hawaii’s constitution, there is no individual right to carry a firearm in public.
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Dating back to the 1800s, when Hawaii was a kingdom, weapons were heavily regulated, Eddins wrote. He noted that in 1833 King Kamehameha III “promulgated a law prohibiting ‘any person or persons’ on shore from possessing a weapon, including any ‘knife, sword-cane, or any other dangerous weapon.’”
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green predicted Friday that thousands of Hawaii residents may give up their health insurance after Congress did not extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies.
Green pledged millions in local taxpayer funds to help them maintain coverage.
Hawaii’s 24,000 Affordable Care Act customers faced uncertainty in December as they had to reenroll without knowing whether extra subsidies would be extended.
Now that the subsidies are ending, customers must find more money or reduce their coverage.
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Premium increases force difficult choices
Insurance agent and radio host Martha Khlopin works with about 300 people who depend on ACA premium subsidies.
“People, I think, will be making the decision, taking that risk and just praying they don’t get sick,” Khlopin said. “So I pray that too. Don’t get sick in 2026, because your premiums and co-pays might be a lot.”
As an example, Khlopin cited a 50-year-old man who makes $40,000. He was paying about $170 a month this year for a plan with good coverage. His new plan will cost about $500 a month starting in January.
“It’s a pretty big increase for him,” Khlopin said. “So what he decided to do was just use his savings to cover the premiums because he really needs to keep the very generous platinum plan that he has right now.”
Coverage downgrades expected
Khlopin said others are downgrading their coverage, choosing lower premiums but much higher out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.
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“So it’s a lower premium, but you have higher cost because you have to meet a deductible,” Khlopin said, noting that could lead some people to avoid care.
“So if I do need a particular procedure that’s expensive, I might decide not to get that done, which ultimately can cause more problems down the road,” Khlopin said.
Green predicted an even more dire scenario with thousands choosing to go without coverage.
“That’s really bad, because it’s not just the lack of insurance for them. It’s also $150 million of uncompensated care to rural facilities to our community health centers,” Green said.
State tax credit proposal
Green proposed that the state make up the lost subsidies with a state tax credit for about 8,000 ACA customers.
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“The analysis we did is that to do the enhanced subsidy that Congress walked away from for now would cost $16.5 million,” Green said.
“That would definitely be a very, very wonderful gift to people to know that there is some relief coming to lower those health insurance premiums,” Khlopin said.
What remains unclear is how quickly that aid could reach policyholders and what will happen to those who decided not to renew when the deadline for open enrollment ended Monday.
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Southwest Airlines is adding more routes from Sin City to the Aloha State.
The airline, which is headquartered at Dallas Love Field, will fly from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Hilo International Airport starting Aug. 6, 2026. The service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, pairing with existing service between Las Vegas and Honolulu.
“When I took office, I pledged to strengthen ties with the ‘Ninth Island’ — Las Vegas, where many Hawaiʻi-born residents live,“ Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a statement. ”Southwest’s renewed service shows its dedication. Quicker flights across the Pacific means more convenience for our local families and another chance to support our hometown airline.”
Hawaiian Airlines is Hilo’s dominant carrier, offering more than 105,000 available seats this month, according to Cirium Diio Mi data. Southwest was second, offering more than 54,000 available seats.
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“We heard you, Hilo,” Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and network operations control, said in a statement.
“Las Vegas is important to you, and you’re important to us..”
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This month, Southwest offered 146 flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu, totaling more than 25,000 available seats, according to data from Diio by Cirium. Southwest first began flights from the western U.S. to Hawaii in 2019. The airline currently flies to the Hawaiian islands from Las Vegas and Phoenix, and from California cities Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego.
Southwest does not operate direct flights to Hawaii from Dallas.
The Hawaii route expansion comes at a time when Southwest is weighing the possibility of building a more than 12,000-square-foot lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, according to documents previously viewed by The Dallas Morning News.
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HONOLULU (KHON2) — Spirits were high for the University of Hawaii Night outside of Honolulu Hale on Thursday, Dec. 18.
A special member of the UH football team was honored by the mayor. Even though it is called University of Hawaii Night, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi had one team in particular that he wanted to give praise to.
“We’re here tonight especially for the football team, given the great winning season they’ve had. But I really want to include the coaches in that, coaches never get enough credit,” Blangiardi said.
The star of the show was UH’s kicker, who is commonly known as the “Tokyo Toe,” who was honored with a proclamation that declared Dec. 18 as Kansei Matsuzawa Day.
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“Consensus all-American, first in the school’s history, all of this deserves celebration,” Blangiardi said. “Kickers have always been my favorite guys, but this guy here is off the charts. You got to give him credit where credit is due, you know?”
The all-American kicker stayed humble despite the accolades and said he could never have done it without the local community.
“Because of the coaches, because of my teammates, that’s the biggest reason why I am here right now, so I want to appreciate everybody supporting me throughout my journey,” Matsuzawa said.
Hawaii’s athletic director had some good news in terms of the Rainbow Warriors being televised in the islands for fans who prefer to watch the games at home.
“Pay per view is a thing of the past, we’re not going to have that any longer, I’m committed to that, and we’re certain about that,” UH athletics director Matt Elliott said. “We are in the process of working on what is the next phase of our media rights deal, so, waiting for the Mountain West to finish their job, which is to figure out the national rights and partners, and then we’ll turn our focus on the local rights.”
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Matsuzawa will take the field as a Warrior one last time against the University of California on Christmas Eve in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
