Wolford v. Lopez | 01/20/26 | Docket #: 24-1046
24-1046 WOLFORD V. LOPEZ
DECISION BELOW: 116 F.4th 959
LIMITED TO QUESTION 1 PRESENTED BY THE PETITION.
CERT. GRANTED 10/3/2025
QUESTION PRESENTED:
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen
, 597 U.S. 1, 33 (2022), holds that
"the Second Amendment guarantees a general right to public carry" of arms, meaning ordinary,
law-abiding citizens may "'bear' arms in public for self-defense." In this case, the Ninth Circuit
sustained a Hawaii law that makes it a crime for a concealed carry permit holder to carry a
handgun on private property unless he has been "given express authorization to carry a firearm
on the property by the owner, lessee, operator, or manager of the property." H.R.S. § 134-9.5.
That holding is in acknowledged direct conflict with the Second Circuit's holding in
Antonyuk v.
James
, 120 F.4th 941 (2d Cir. 2024), a decision that struck down an
identical
State law in the
same procedural posture as this case.
The Ninth Circuit also sustained a multitude of other location bans on carry by permit
holders, relying solely on post-Reconstruction Era and later laws. That doctrinal approach is in
direct conflict with the Third Circuit's decision
in Lara v. Commissioner Pennsylvania State
Police
, 125 F.4th 428 (3d Cir. 2025), the Fifth Circuit's decision in
United States v. Connelly
, 117
F.4th 269 (5th Cir. 2024), the Eighth Circuit's decision in
Worth v. Jacobson
, 108 F.4th 677 (8th
Cir. 2024), and, most recently, the Eleventh Circuit's en banc decision in
NRA v. Bondi
, No. 21-
12314, 2025 WL 815734 at *5 (11th Cir. March 14,2025) (en banc), all of which hold that
primary focus must be on Founding generation laws and tradition in applying the text, history
and tradition test
Bruen
mandates.
The questions presented are:
1. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in holding, in direct conflict with the Second Circuit,
that Hawaii may presumptively prohibit the carry of handguns by licensed concealed carry
permit holders on private property open to the public unless the property owner affirmatively
gives express permission to the handgun carrier?
2. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in solely relying on post-Reconstruction Era and later
laws in applying
Bruen
's text, history and tradition test in direct conflict with the holdings of the
Third, Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits?
LOWER COURT CASE NUMBER: 23-16164