The court will hear arguments in an appeal by the challengers – three Hawaii residents with concealed-carry licenses and a Honolulu-based gun rights advocacy group – of a lower court’s ruling against them. The lower court found that Hawaii’s measure likely complies with the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

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Hawaii’s law requires “express authorization” to bring a handgun onto private property open to the public, either as verbal or written authorization, including “clear and conspicuous signage.”

Hawaii argued in court papers that its law strikes a proper balance between “the right to bear arms and property owners’ undisputed right to choose whether to permit armed entry onto their property.”

“A person carrying a firearm cannot pick up a cup of coffee, get lunch at a drive-through restaurant, stop for gas, enter a parking lot, go into a store, buy groceries or perform other routine tasks that require setting foot on private property,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.

A federal judge preliminarily blocked Hawaii’s restrictions. But the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely ruled against the law’s challengers, prompting their appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court did not take up an aspect of the legal challenge that focused on the law’s provisions banning the carrying of handguns at beaches, bars and other sensitive places.

In a nation bitterly divided over how to address persistent firearms violence including frequent mass shootings, the Supreme Court often has taken an expansive view of Second Amendment protections. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, widened gun rights in three major rulings in 2008, 2010 and most recently in 2022.

The plaintiffs in the Hawaii case have cited that 2022 ruling’s holding that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense. That landmark 6-3 decision, called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, was powered by the court’s six conservatives, over dissents from the three liberal justices.

The Bruen decision invalidated New York state’s limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home. In doing so, the court created a new test for assessing firearms laws, saying that restrictions must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” not simply advance an important government interest.

The court in 2024 ruled 8-1 that a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns satisfied the court’s stringent history-and-tradition test.

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – When it comes to nā wāhine island fashion, there is nothing more unique to Hawaiʻi than the muʻumuʻu.

Aunty Lei Batty of DeStash Hawaiʻi says the muʻumuʻu brings people together through memory, culture and community.

“It is a strong part of our culture. People worldwide see our muʻumuʻus and they identify with who we are, and even the local people identify and have stories that are tied richly to a certain muʻumuʻu style and print,” she said.

That’s exactly what the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts’ “For the Love of Muʻumuʻu” exhibit is all about.

From now until the end of January, many muʻumuʻu have a temporary hale at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said, “What we wear for clothing becomes part of our culture and our traditions, and certainly, the history and the legacy of muʻumuʻus just speaks to the rich traditions of Hawaiʻi. We’re just really proud to be able to do this.”

Aunty Lei said, “I think the muʻumuʻu has evolved a lot throughout the different designers, the styles, the periods, through colors, through fashion.”

You’re invited to come down and check out many island fashion icons like Nakeʻu Awai, Reyn Spooner, Liberty House and Bete Muʻumuʻu, who over the years have really made their mark with their beautiful designs of the colorful garments.

“These pieces are iconic. They’ve lasted throughout the 66 years that Bete has been in fashion,” Aunty Lei said.

Most importantly, many island designers and fashion leaders in the islands say the legacy of the muʻumuʻu lives on and encourages the next generation to keep this fabric of island life alive.

“I want them to embrace and continue this beautiful culture, rich fashion history that we have,” said Aunty Lei.

The exhibit honors Muʻumuʻu Month, which began in 2014 when Kauaʻi designer Shannon Hiramoto challenged herself to wear a different vintage muʻumuʻu every day in January.

The community is invited, but not required, to dress for the occasion by wearing muʻumuʻu.

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