- Trump administration supports challengers to the law
- Gun rights group and other plaintiffs sued the state
Hawaii
US Supreme Court to hear challenge to Hawaii handgun limits
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court was set on Tuesday to weigh a challenge to a Hawaii law restricting the carry of handguns on private property that is open to the public, such as most businesses, without the owner’s permission.
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.”
The plaintiffs sued to challenge Hawaii’s restrictions weeks after Democratic Governor Josh Green signed the measure into law in 2023. They are being backed by President Donald Trump’s administration, which argued in court papers that Hawaii’s law “deprives individuals who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights of their ability to go about their daily lives.”
“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 general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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.
In March, the court will hear a bid by Trump’s administration to defend a federal law that bars users of illegal drugs from owning guns.
Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Mechanical problems with a water treatment plant in Hawaii have left thousands of soldiers without central air conditioning in the barracks, a spokesman for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii confirmed Tuesday in a statement to Military Times.
Four thousand soldiers in Area North Barracks are opening windows, turning on fans or using other tools to beat the heat while the base grapples with pump issues.
On July 10, deep-well pumps supporting Army installations in central and northern Oahu started experiencing problems.
According to the garrison, only one pump is currently pushing water to the surface. To maintain essential water services, water chiller systems have been turned off. Without the chiller systems — which make up almost 40% of the daily water use — the barracks do not receive central air conditioning. The incident was initially reported by Task & Purpose.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures for the remainder of the week range from the mid-70s to the upper-80s.
Units are able to move troops to MWR facilities with central air conditioning, according to the service, but as of Sunday, no units had done so.
Repairs are underway, but an exact timeline for when the pumps will be fully functional again was not provided.
The cause of the issues has not been definitively identified, however “age and extreme heat due to ventilation system repairs are believed to be part of the cause,” said Nathan Wilkes, the garrison’s external communications chief.
The installation is prioritizing keeping safe drinking water available.
Barracks and residential housing have access to drinkable water, and plumbing and sanitation systems are operational. Wilkes also said the installation has paused irrigation systems pulling from Area North water supply.
Family housing still has air conditioning and water access, Wilkes added.
The garrison’s commander, Col. Rachel Sullivan, was scheduled to host a town hall on the installation’s Facebook page on Tuesday.
Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. She has covered conflict across the world, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
A 21-year-old Hilo woman died as the result of a three-vehicle traffic collision Sunday night on Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona.
Officers responded to a 9:28 p.m. report of a head-on collision near the north end of Kahaluu Beach Park.
Their preliminary investigation determined that the woman, Hinanui T. Starr-Boyle, was driving a gray 2012 Toyota Tacoma northbound at a high-rate of speed for the area.
While passing another northbound vehicle in a no-passing zone, the Tacoma crossed into the southbound lane and collided head-on with a silver 2010 Nissan Frontier pickup truck driven by a 20-year-old Holualoa man.
Following the initial collision, the Nissan Frontier continued onto the makai shoulder of the roadway, where it struck a parked tan Ford Econoline van.
Starr-Boyle was pronounced dead at 10:17 p.m. at Kona Community Hospital. Her passenger, a 25-year-old Hilo man, and the driver of the Nissan were admitted to KCH. Both were listed in stable condition.
The driver of the Nissan was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
None of the people involved in the collision were wearing seat belts, and speed and impairment are believed to be contributing factors in the crash, police said.
Starr-Boyle’s death is the 18th traffic fatality on Hawaii Island in 2026, compared to 14 at the same time last year.
Potential witnesses or anyone with video camera footage from the area around the time of the crash are asked to contact Officer John Harvey at (808) 326-4646, ext. 3229, or john.harvey@hawaiicounty.gov.
Those who prefer anonymity may contact Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.
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