In the Second Amendment world, well, you win a few, you lose a few. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hasn't always been the friendliest towards the Second Amendment and legal gun owners, and now it has demonstrated that proclivity yet again, with an en banc decision upholding the state of Hawaii's onerous handgun permit deadline and firearm inspection laws.
That decision, released Tuesday, came on a 6-5 vote.
NEW: In a 6-5 vote, the en banc Ninth Circuit upheld Hawaii's handgun acquisition permit deadline and firearm inspection requirement under the Second Amendment, reversing an injunction against the laws. pic.twitter.com/xcLzG9vGgD
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) September 22, 2026
SCOTUS Wire, which made the X announcement, described Hawaii's law and some of the reasoning behind the decision:
Hawaii requires handgun acquisition permits to be used within 30 days or become void. It also requires certain newly acquired firearms to be brought to a police station for inspection. A federal district court had declared the challenged requirements unconstitutional.
The majority held that Bruen's footnote 9 makes objective, non-abusive licensing requirements presumptively constitutional. It found that Hawaii's deadline and inspection requirement impose only modest procedural burdens and do not materially impede firearm acquisition.
Judge Ryan Nelson, joined by four judges in relevant part, dissented. He argued that Bruen's footnote 9 addresses public-carry licensing, not firearm acquisition, and does not exempt Hawaii from showing that its restrictions are consistent with the nation's historical tradition.
I'm not a constitutional attorney, nor do I play one on television, but this seems like a case that's ripe for appeal to the Supreme Court, although as of this writing the plaintiffs and their attorneys have not commented on the ruling. The process for acquiring a handgun, the "keep" portion of the Second Amendment, it certainly seems is being infringed here. Not only does Hawaii require a prospective gun owner to have permission from the state to exercise a constitutional right, but it also sets a time limit between said permission and the actual purchase. Furthermore, the law requires the new gun owner to submit his or her new purchase to a state-sponsored inspection, resulting in a whole new level of infringement.
In the post-Bruen world, that seems fraught.
The firearms inspection law in question is HB2075 (Act 030), signed in 2022, which in part restores a law that was struck down by a federal court. According to the Hawaii Free Press, the law requires such inspections of three categories of handguns: guns that do not have serial numbers (also known as ghost guns), guns brought to Hawaii from out of state, and guns transferred between private individuals. Hawaii also has laws requiring anyone seeking to buy a firearm to take a training course and receive a license — in effect, seeking permission from the state to exercise a constitutional right. The Second Amendment is the only item in the Bill of Rights, the only constitutionally-defined and guaranteed right, which is regularly the target for this kind of requirement. That would seem to be reason enough in itself for an appeal, and the current Supreme Court has been generally favorable towards the Second Amendment.
If we can preserve GOP control of the government — this fall and in 2028 — we can hope to keep it that way.
You can view the 9th Circuit's decision here.
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