Lawyer who beat Hawaii gun law calls state’s reliance on Black Code ‘disgraceful’

The Supreme Court struck down Hawaii's requirement for licensed gun owners to seek permission to carry firearms on private property open to the public in a 6-3 decision. The ruling criticized Hawaii's use of an 1865 Louisiana Black Code law to justify the policy, calling it a 'tainted artifact' designed to disarm newly freed Black Americans. Attorney Kevin O'Grady, representing plaintiffs, condemned the state's reliance on the historical law as 'disgraceful,' while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued the Court avoided addressing a key constitutional question.