Hawaii Supreme Court: 'The Wire' Invalidates the Constitution

Sounds like the Hawaii Supreme Court doesn't even want to be a part of the United States, in this rejection of not just the Second Amendment but their culture and understanding of the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/wC8py3Uulq

— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) February 7, 2024

The Aloha State's highest court upheld a man's gun-carry conviction on Wednesday after rejecting landmark decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

Hawaii's Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that found charges leveled against Christopher Wilson for carrying a gun without a permit violated his rights. Instead, the court ruled its state constitution provides no gun-rights protections whatsoever. That's despite it including a provision protecting the right of the people to keep and bear arms identical to the one in the federal Constitution.

"Article I, section 17 of the Hawai'i Constitution mirrors the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution," the Hawaiian court wrote in Hawaii v. Wilson. "We read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court. We hold that in Hawai'i there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public."

[...] The Hawaiian judges argued that [the U.S. Supreme Court's] standard [for whether gun laws are compatible with the protections offered by the Second Amendment] should be tossed out, citing a line from an HBO drama.

"As the world turns, it makes no sense for contemporary society to pledge allegiance to the founding era's culture, realities, laws, and understanding of the Constitution. 'The thing about the old days, they the old days.' The Wire: Home Rooms (HBO television broadcast Sept. 24, 2006) (Season Four, Episode Three)."

Instead of American history, the Hawaii court looked at the island's pre-American history for guidance on the protections provided by its state constitution.

"We reject Wilson's constitutional challenges," the court wrote. "Conventional interpretive modalities and Hawai'i's historical tradition of firearm regulation rule out an individual right to keep and bear arms under the Hawai'i Constitution."

So to be clear, in its analysis of the Hawaii right to bear arms provision, which is identical to the federal one and was adopted by the Hawaii legislature in 1950, the Hawaii Supreme Court looks to the history of Hawaii when it was a foreign nation.

Cool. pic.twitter.com/oaXl3fkXc9

— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) February 7, 2024

The judges concluded Hawaii's unique spirit overrode SCOTUS's view that its citizens are entitled to gun rights.

"The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities," the Hawaiian Supreme Court wrote. "The history of the Hawaiian Islands does not include a society where armed people move about the community to possibly combat the deadly aims of others."

Looking old, tired, and weak, Trump says that conservative judges go out of their way to hurt him so that they appear fair.

This is a shot across the bow towards Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, & Barrett. The 🤡 even prefaced this nonsense by saying he probably shouldn't be saying it. SMH! pic.twitter.com/qDQPk8ar3m

— Unfiltered☢Boss (@Unfilteredboss1) January 6, 2024

https://t.co/ztRtB1hX5k

— Helen Andrews (@herandrews) May 29, 2023