Supreme Court appears likely to strike down California law banning guns in stores and restaurants
WASHINGTON- Do licensed gun owners have the right to carry a loaded firearm in stores, restaurants, and other private places open to the public?
California and Hawaii are among five states with new laws prohibiting the carrying of firearms on private property without the consent of an owner or manager. But the Trump administration joined gun rights advocates Tuesday in urging the Supreme Court to strike down those laws as unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment.
Such a law “effectively voids licenses to carry guns in public,” Trump’s lawyers said.
If you “stop at a gas station, you are committing a crime,” Assistant Attorney General Sarah Harris told the court.
A lawyer representing Hawaii said the issue is about property rights, not gun rights.
“An invitation to go shopping is not an invitation to bring your Glock,” Washington attorney Neal Katyal told the court. “There is no constitutional right to enter property that includes the right to bring firearms.”
The justices appeared divided along usual ideological lines, with the Court’s conservatives signaling they are likely to strike down the new laws in five Democratic-led states.
“You relegate the 2nd Amendment to second-class status,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told Katyal.
He said the court ruled that law-abiding people have the right to carry a gun for self-defense when they leave their homes. This would involve going to stores or businesses that are open to the public.
“If the owners don’t like guns, why don’t they just put up a sign?” » said Alito.
Both sides agreed that business owners are generally free to allow or ban guns on their property. However, state officials said, these laws are important because business owners rarely post signs encouraging or prohibiting carrying guns.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the 2nd Amendment should have the same status as the 1st Amendment.
He said it was understood based on the 1st Amendment that a political candidate could go to a house and knock on the door or drop off a pamphlet. He questioned why the court should uphold a law that limits gun owners’ access to places open to the public.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh said they, too, believed the “right to keep and bear arms” included the right to bear arms, including in stores.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said property rights should trump gun rights.
“Is there a right to enter private property with a firearm?” » Sotomayor asked repeatedly. She said the court had never recognized such a broad right.
But with the possible exception of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, none of the conservatives agreed.
Four years ago, the court ruled that law-abiding gun owners have the right to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense when they leave their home. They had also said that guns could be banned in “sensitive locations,” but they had not yet decided what that meant.
Following the ruling, California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland passed new laws restricting the carrying of weapons in public places, including parks and beaches.
The laws also state that gun owners cannot bring a gun into a private business without the “express permission” of an owner or manager. California law went further and states that the owner must post a clear sign allowing firearms.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the laws of Hawaii and California, with the exception of the mandatory posting of a sign in California.
Three Hawaii residents with concealed carry permits appealed to the Supreme Court and won support from the Trump administration.
