Supreme Court will decide if gun owners may carry in private places open to the public

WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether licensed gun owners have a right to carry their weapons at private places and businesses that are open to the public.

At issue are laws in California, Hawaii and three other states that generally prohibit carrying guns on private or public property that is open to the public.

Three years ago, Supreme Court ruled that law-abiding gun owners had a 2nd Amendment right to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon when they leave home.

But the justices left open the question of whether states and cities could prohibit the carrying of guns in “sensitive places,” and if so, where.

In response, California enacted a strict law that forbids gun owners from carrying their firearm in most public or private places that are open to the public unless the owner posted a sign permitting such weapons.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down that provision last year as going too far, but it upheld most other restrictions as well as a Hawaii law that restricted the carrying of guns at public places and most private businesses that are open to the public.

Gun-rights advocates appealed to the Supreme Court and urged the justices to rule that such restrictions on carrying concealed weapons violate the 2nd Amendment.

The court agreed to hear the case early next year and decide whether states may exclude concealed carry weapons from stores, bars and other private businesses.

Trump administration lawyers urged the justices to strike down the Hawaii law and uphold a broad right to carry.

The state law “functions as a near-complete ban on public carry. A person carrying a handgun for self-defense commits a crime by entering a mall, a gas station, a convenience store, a supermarket, a restaurant, a coffee shop, or even a parking lot,” said Solicitor General D. John Sauer.

He noted that New York, New Jersey and Maryland had adopted restrictions that were similar to those in California and Hawaii.

“Five states with a combined population of more than 75 million — i.e., more than a fifth of the total population of the United States” have prohibited carrying concealed weapons in private and public places without the permission from the owner, he said.

Gun-control advocates said Hawaii had enacted a “common sense law that prohibits carrying firearms on others’ private property which is open to the public.”

“The 9th Circuit was absolutely right to say it’s constitutional to prohibit guns on private property unless the owner says they want guns there,” said Janet Carter, managing director of Second Amendment Litigation, at Everytown Law. “This law respects people’s right to be safe on their own property, and we urge the Supreme Court to uphold it.”