LAFAYETTE, La. — When the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hawaii’s so-called “vampire rule” on concealed carry violates the Second Amendment, the majority opinion did not stop at Hawaii’s law. It called out by name a Louisiana statute from 1865 that Hawaii used to try to justify the restriction, and it was direct about what that law actually was.
The case is Wolford v. Lopez, decided 6-3 with Justice Samuel Alito writing for the majority. Louisiana’s role in it traces back to how Second Amendment cases are decided now.
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How the Bruen Framework Made History Central to Every Gun Case
In 2022, the Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, establishing a new test for evaluating gun laws. If a challenged law restricts conduct covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment, the government must show the restriction is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The government does that by finding historical analogues, old laws similar enough in purpose and effect that a court can infer the modern law falls within the same tradition.
States defending gun laws after Bruen had to go digging through the historical record. Hawaii dug up something from Louisiana.
What Hawaii’s Law Did
Act 52, which Hawaii passed in 2023, created what gun-rights advocates dubbed the “vampire rule,” drawing on the old folklore that a vampire cannot enter a home without an invitation. Under the law, anyone with a concealed-carry permit who wanted to enter a privately owned business open to the public had to first obtain express permission from the property owner. Without that permission, entering while armed was a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.
At common law, the default has always worked the other way. Opening property to the public gives everyone an implied license to enter unless the owner specifically withdraws it. Hawaii reversed that for gun owners, requiring permit holders to seek affirmative permission before walking into a gas station, grocery store, or restaurant…