YOUNG V. STATE OF HAWAII by Tom Reynolds
President Andrew Jackson said about the Supreme Court: The Supreme Court has made its decision, “…now let him enforce it.” (Andrew Jackson was a Democrat.)
In three decisions, Heller, McDonald and NYSRPA, the Supreme Court came down clearly that the 2nd Amendment is not a secondary right. With New York and the federal government leading the way, Democrat politicians have echoed Jackson’s words through their deeds; they have ignored the “law-of-the-land”.
Unfortunately for the United States and our Constitution, several courts have also ignored the “law-of-the-land”. Sometimes lower courts ignore the Supreme Court, outright, and other times they use bureaucratic subversions to delay implementation of Supreme Court rulings. An example of both is “Young v. State of Hawaii”.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (the 9th) has jurisdiction over the “Left Coast” including Alaska and Hawaii. Federal trials are held in U.S. District Courts and the 9th hears appeals on those district court decisions. The only higher court than the 9th is the Supreme Court of the U.S. Historically, the 9th is the circuit court most reversed by the Supreme Court.
The state of Hawaii has a “May Issue” clause for pistol permits, much like New York State had until NYSRPA V Bruen ruled it unconstitutional. Hawaii generally requires gun owners to keep their firearms at their “place of business, residence, or sojourn.” Section 134-9 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes contains a limited exception which allows citizens to obtain a license to carry a loaded handgun in public, either concealed or openly.
In 2011, George Young applied to the County of Hawaii for a pistol permit and was denied for failing to satisfy the subjective exceptions in 134-9. Mr. Young has not been discouraged by a decade of rejections of his appeals to the judicial system. (Well…maybe discouraged but he never quit.) Young finally appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court granted Young’s petition and remanded his case to the 9th for further consideration, citing the Supreme Court’s NYSRPA v Bruen opinion.
An eleven-judge panel of the 9th heard Young’s latest appeal, prompted by the Supreme Court decision. A majority of seven judges punted and sent the case back to the district court - without a reversal based on NYSRPA or guidance.
Four judges dissented and Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote the dissent and explained the issues well.
The 9th “…shied away from its obligations to provide guidance to the lower courts and to answer the straightforward legal question of whether Hawaii’s ‘may-issue’ permitting scheme violated the Second Amendment right of a responsible law-abiding citizen to carry a firearm for self-defense outside of the home. Bruen held unconstitutional a “may-issue” permitting scheme for public carry of handguns, much like the law challenged in this case…Instead of remanding without explanation or justification, the court should have reversed the district court in an opinion holding…that the “may-issue” permitting scheme was unconstitutional… If we issued such an opinion, we would ensure that Bruen is applied uniformly in our Circuit in future cases. And in this case, we would save the parties and the district court the time and expense of continuing to litigate issues that we could resolve easily.” (Emphasis added.)
Two things the left does not worry about are time and expense since they are operating on the taxpayer’s dime.
O’Scannlian continued: “…Young has waited over ten years to exercise his constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. Because we opt not to decide this simple case, we force Young to wait even longer.“
Optimistically, O’Scannlian wrote: “Someday, Young will finally be vindicated. Someday, our Court must issue an opinion that respects the rights enshrined in the Second Amendment. “
As far as the left is concerned, “someday” will be a cold day in hell.
Judge O’Scannlain made a scathing but true statement about the 9th: “…the majority seems to reveal a hidden rule in our Circuit: Second Amendment claims are not to be taken seriously.”
Young v Hawaii demonstrates the strategy Kickback Kathy Hochul and her Democrat cronies applied in passing their latest group of anti-2nd Amendment laws: ignore the law and force citizens to sue – at the citizens time and expense.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote "justice too long delayed is justice denied". Little would King have suspected that he was giving marching orders to today’s democrats.
