The Supreme Court appears likely to strike down California’s law banning guns from stores and restaurants
WASHINGTON – Do licensed gun owners have the right to carry a loaded firearm into stores, restaurants and other private places open to the public?
California and Hawaii are among five states with new laws that prohibit carrying firearms on private property without the owner’s or manager’s permit. But the Trump administration joined gun rights advocates on Tuesday in urging the Supreme Court to strike down the laws as unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment.
Such legislation “effectively eliminates licenses to carry weapons in public,” Trump’s lawyers said.
“If you’re in a gas station, you’re committing a crime,” Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the court.
A lawyer for Hawaii said the issue is one of property rights, not gun rights.
“An invitation to buy is not an invitation to bring in your Glock,” Washington attorney Neal Katyal told the court. “There is no constitutional right to enter a place that includes the right to bring firearms.”
The justices were widely divided, with members of the court indicating they were likely to strike down the new laws in five Democratic-led states.
“You’re relegating the Second Amendment to the second level,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. he told Katyal.
He said the court decided that law-abiding people have the right to carry a gun to protect themselves when they leave their homes. That would include going to shops or businesses that are open to the public.
“If the owners don’t like guns, why don’t they just put a sign?” Alito said.
Both sides agreed that business owners are generally free to allow or ban guns on their premises. However, state officials said the laws are important because business owners rarely post signs that accept or prohibit the handling of firearms.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the Second Amendment should have the same standing as the First Amendment.
He said it is understood from the 1st Amendment that a candidate for a political election can go to a house and knock on the door or drop a leaflet. He asked why the court should uphold the law that prohibits gun owners from entering public places.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh said they also believe that the “right to keep and bear arms” includes the right to carry weapons, including access to stores.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said property rights should come before gun rights.
“Is there a right to enter private property with a gun?” Sotomayor asked again and again. He said the court has never respected such a broad right.
But with the exception of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, none of the panelists 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 homes. They also said at the time that guns might be banned in “critical areas” but did not decide what that meant.
After that decision, California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and Maryland adopted new laws banning the carrying of firearms in public places, including parks and beaches.
The rules also state that gun owners may not take a firearm into a private business without the “express consent” of the owner or manager. California law went further and said the owner must post a clear sign allowing firearms.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the laws from Hawaii and California, without the required filing of the trademark in California.
Three Hawaii residents with concealed carry permits appealed to the Supreme Court and won the support of the Trump administration.
