The Hawaii Supreme Court handed down a unanimous opinion on Wednesday declaring that its state constitution grants individuals absolutely no right to keep and bear arms outside the context of military service. Its decision rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment, refusing to interpolate SCOTUS’ shoddy historical analysis into Hawaii law. Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discussed the ruling on this week’s Slate Plus segment of Amicus; their conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Does the Hawaii state constitution specifically deny the right to keep and bear arms outside of military service?
Even if it did, it wouldn’t matter as the US constitution is the ultimate authority and contradicts that opinion. It would take a few years to get to the Supreme Court though.
No, it does not. Many residents have AR-15s and similar to defend against destruction from wild boars and axis deer.