Attorney General Alan Wilson fights to protect 2nd Amendment in two cases

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is fighting to protect citizens’ Second Amendment rights by filing briefs against two laws in Hawaii that restrict gun rights in that state. One law puts severe restrictions on Hawaiians’ ability to buy a gun, and the other prohibits gun owners from carrying a gun on private property that’s open to the public.

“The Second Amendment says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, which includes not allowing a state to infringe on that right,” Attorney General Wilson said. “The Second Amendment is a precious and vital right that needs to be defended everywhere, because federal court and Supreme Court rulings in other states could affect that right in South Carolina.”

He joined a 24-state friend-of-the-court brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in one of the cases, which is about a Hawaii law that requires would-be gun buyers to clear numerous obstacles. First, they must identify the specific gun they want to buy, including the serial number, then go to the police department to apply for a permit to buy it, wait 14 days, go back to the police department within 30 days to pick up the permit during business hours, and then buy the gun within 30 days. If the buyer misses any of those steps, he has to start over. After all that, he must then go back to the police station within five days so the chief of police can inspect the weapon or face criminal penalties.

Attorney General Wilson also joined a separate 25-state friend-of-the-court brief in another case from Hawaii that’s now before the Supreme Court of the United States. In that case, Hawaii basically banned carrying a gun on private property that’s held open to the public, which essentially limits the right to carry to “only while taking your dog out for a walk on a city sidewalk,” according to one district judge.

In the first case, Attorney General Wilson was joined by the attorneys general of Idaho, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and the Arizona Legislature.

You can read that brief here.

In the second case, Attorney General Wilson was joined by Montana, Idaho, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the Arizona Legislature.

You can read that brief here.