Thomas Wants Supreme Court to Decide Case It Doesn’t Have Ability to Yet

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Clarence Thomas said Monday that it was “imperative” that the court intervene in a case involving the Second Amendment, subsequently denying a request for a hearing.

The case involves a challenge to Hawaii’s gun licensing laws, which prevent carrying a firearm outside the home without a license and saw plaintiff Christopher Wilson arrested in 2017 for doing so.

Wilson did not have a permit to acquire a gun or a license to carry it, which Hawaii state law prohibits, but he argued that these laws violated his Second Amendment rights.

A state court judge agreed with him, citing a 2022 Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights. However, Hawaii’s highest court then ruled that the 2022 ruling was “backward looking” when it came to modernizing gun laws. Its decision left Wilson’s charges in place.

In appealing to the Supreme Court, Wilson’s attorneys argued that his carrying a firearm was well within his Second Amendment rights, which could not be overwritten by state law.

While the nation’s highest court did not give full reasoning for denying a hearing on the case, Justice Thomas wrote that the court simply “may not have jurisdiction,” even if a state has potentially overwritten the right to bear arms.

The chief justice left the issue open, however, by suggesting that hearing a similar case could clarify it.

“In an appropriate case, however, we should make clear that Americans are always free to invoke the Second Amendment as a defense against unconstitutional firearms-licensing schemes,” Thomas wrote. “Perhaps Wilson himself will present that case, should he file a posttrial petition for certiorari. Regardless, this issue is an important and recurring one.

“And, this Court’s intervention clearly remains imperative, given lower courts’ continued insistence on treating the Second Amendment ‘right so cavalierly.'”

Wilson’s attorney, Benjamin Lowenthal, told Newsweek that he remained convinced Hawaii’s Supreme Court should reexamine the case, calling the court’s decision not to hear it disappointing.

“The constitutional problem persists in our state,” he wrote. “And as long as the constitution problem remains, there will be constitutional challenges.”

Newsweek reached out to the State of Hawaii for comment via email Monday afternoon.

The issue of state-based laws around firearm licensing and carrying is not a new one, with multiple clashes in the courts over whether gun-control laws work against one of the country’s oldest fundamental freedoms.

Hawaii’s highest court argued in its response to Wilson’s filing that only using a “backward-looking approach” when it came to determining rules around gun ownership was ignoring the reality of 2024 life.

“The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities,” the court wrote. “The history of the Hawaiian Islands does not include a society where armed people move about the community to possibly combat the deadly aims of others.”

Wilson argued that Hawaii showed “open hostility” toward the Second Amendment with this view. Thomas said Monday that Hawaii failed to give the Second Amendment its due regard and that if its highest court had, it would have ruled that the state’s licensing laws were unconstitutional.

Bill Sack, Second Amendment Foundation director of legal operations, said in a statement sent to Newsweek that Justice Thomas’ comments were encouraging regarding the upholding of the Second Amendment.

“The Hawaiian Supreme Court cannot – and will not – be permitted to rely on “the spirit of Aloha” to thumb its nose at the demands of the Constitution, and as the case proceeds on the merits, we will continue to monitor the case and fight to ensure the rights of all Hawaiians are vindicated,” Sack said.

Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group that campaigns for stricter licensing laws, rates Hawaii six out of 50 states when it comes to gun safety, citing more rigid rules around purchasing and manufacturers.