YOUNG v. STATE

No. 12-17808.

992 F.3d 765 (2021)

George K. YOUNG, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE of Hawaii; Neil Abercrombie, in his capacity as Governor of the State of Hawaii; David Mark Louie I, Esquire, in his capacity as State Attorney General; County of Hawaii, as a sub-agency of the State of Hawaii; William P. Kenoi, in his capacity as Mayor of the County of Hawaii; Hilo County Police Department, as a sub-agency of the County of Hawaii; Harry S. Kubojiri, in his capacity as Chief of Police; John Does, 1-25; Jane Does, 1-25; Doe Corporations, 1-5; Doe Entities, 1-5, Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Filed March 24, 2021.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Alan Alexander Beck (argued), San Diego, California; Stephen D. Stamboulieh , Stamboulieh Law PLLC, Madison, Mississippi; for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Neal Kumar Katyal (argued), Colleen E. Roh Sinzdak , Mitchell P. Reich , and Sundeer Iyer , Hogan Lovells US LLP, Washington, D.C.; Clare E. Connors , Attorney General; Kimberly T. Guidry , Solicitor General; Robert T. Nakatsuji and Kaliko`Onalani D. Fernandes , Deputy Solicitors General; Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu, Hawaii; Joseph K. Kamelamela , Corporation Counsel; Laureen L. Martin , Litigation Section Supervisor; D. Kaena Horowitz , Melody Parker , Christopher P. Schlueter , Michael J. Udovic , and Kimberly K. Angay , Deputies Corporation Counsel; Office of the Corporation Counsel, Hilo Hawaii; for Defendants-Appellees.

Girard D. Lau , former Solicitor General; Kimberly T. Guidry , Solicitor General; Robert T. Nakatsuji , Deputy Solicitor General; Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu, Hawaii; for Amicus Curiae State of Hawaii.

Deepak Gupta and Jonathan E. Taylor , Gupta Wessler PLLC, Washington, D.C.; Eric Tirschwell and Mark Anthony Frassetto , Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, New York, New York; Janet Carter , William J. Taylor Jr. , and Lisa M. Ebersole , Everytown Law, New York, New York; for Amicus Curiae Everytown for Gun Safety.

Simon J. Frankel , Covington & Burling LLP, San Francisco, California; Paulina K. Slagter , Covington & Burling LLP, Los Angeles, California; J. Adam Skaggs and David Pucino , Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, New York, New York; Hannah Shearer , Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, San Francisco, California; for Amicus Curiae Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Gurbir S. Grewal , Attorney General; Andrew J. Bruck , Executive Assistant Attorney General; Jeremy M. Feigenbaum , Assistant Attorney General; Claudia Joy Demitro , Adam D. Klein and Tim Sheehan , Deputy Attorneys General; Attorney General's Office, Trenton, New Jersey; Xavier Becerra , Attorney General, Sacramento, California; William Tong , Attorney General, Hartford, Connecticut; Matthew P. Denn , Attorney General, Wilmington, Delaware; Kwame Raoul , Attorney General, Chicago, Illinois; Tom Miller , Attorney General, Des Moines, Iowa; Maura Healey , Attorney General, Boston, Massachusetts; Brian E. Frosh , Attorney General, Baltimore, Maryland; Letitia James , Attorney General, New York, New York; Ellen F. Rosenblum , Attorney General, Salem, Oregon; Peter F. Neronha , Attorney General, Providence, Rhode Island; Mark R. Herring , Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia; Karl A. Racine , Attorney General, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Xavier Becerra , Attorney General; Michael J. Mongan , Solicitor General; Thomas S. Patterson , Senior Assistant Attorney General; Samuel P. Siegel and Helen H. Hong , Deputy Solicitors General; Jonathan M. Eisenberg and P. Patty Li , Deputy Attorneys General; Department of Justice, Sacramento, California; for Amicus Curiae State of California.

John W. Dillon , Gatzke Dillon & Ballance LLP, Carlsbad, California, for Amicus Curiae San Diego County Gun Owners Political Action Committee.

Richard L. Holcomb , Holcomb Law LLLC, Honolulu, Hawaii, for Amicus Curiae Hawai`i Rifle Association.

Donald L. Wilkerson , Laupahoehoe, Hawaii, for Amicus Curiae Hawaii Firearms Coalition.

Herbert W. Titus , Robert J. Olson , William J. Olson , and Jeremiah L. Morgan , William J. Olson P.C., Vienna, Virginia; Joseph W. Miller , Restoring Liberty Action Committee, Fairbanks, Alaska; for Amici Curiae Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Heller Foundation, Virginia Citizens Defense League, Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Restoring Liberty Action Committee.

David G. Sigale , Law Firm of David G. Sigale P.C., Glen Ellyn, Illinois, for Amicus Curiae Second Amendment Foundation.

Donald E. J. Kilmer Jr. , Law Offices of Donald Kilmer APC, San Jose, California, for Amici Curiae Madison Society Inc. Calguns Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition Inc., and Firearms Policy Foundation.

John Cutonilli, Garrett Park, Maryland, pro se Amicus Curiae.

Neal Goldfarb, Washington, D.C., pro se Amicus Curiae.

Adita Dynar and Mark Chenoweth , New Civil Liberties Alliance, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae New Civil Liberties Alliance.

Jeff Landry , Attorney General; Elizabeth Baker Murrill , Solicitor General; Josiah M. Kollmeyer , Assistant Solicitor General; Department of Justice, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Steven T. Marshall , Attorney General, Alabama; Mark Brnovich , Attorney General, Arizona; Leslie Rutledge , Attorney General, Arkansas; Christopher M. Carr , Attorney General, Georgia; Lawrence G. Wasden , Attorney General, Idaho; Aaron Negangard , Chief Deputy Attorney General, Indiana; Derek Schmidt , Attorney General, Kansas; Daniel Cameron , Attorney General, Kentucky; Lynn Fitch , Attorney General, Mississippi; Timothy C. Fox , Attorney General, Montana; Douglas J. Peterson , Attorney General, Nebraska; Wayne Stenehjem , Attorney General, North Dakota; Dave Yost , Attorney General, Ohio; Mike Hunter , Attorney General, Oklahoma; Alan Wilson , Attorney General, South Carolina; Jason Ravnsborg , Attorney General, South Dakota; Ken Paxton , Attorney General, Texas; Sean D. Reyes , Attorney General, Utah; Patrick Morrisey , Attorney General, West Virginia; for Amici Curiae States of Louisiana, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

Dan Jackson , Special Deputy Corporation Counsel, Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP, San Francisco, California, for Amici Curiae City and County of Honolulu, County of Kaua`i, and County of Maui.

Brian R. Matsui and Samuel B. Goldstein , Morrison & Foerster LLP, Washington, D.C.; Jamie A. Levitt and Janie C. Buckley , Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae Corpus Linguistics Professors and Experts.

Michael T. Jean , National Rifle Association of America—Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, Virginia, for Amicus Curiae National Rifle Association of America.

Matthew J. Silveira , Jones Day, San Francisco, California, for Amici Curiae Social Scientists and Public Health Researchers.

Mark D. Selwyn , Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Palo Alto, California; Nicholas G. Purcell , Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Los Angeles, California; for Amici Curiae Professors of History and Law.

Antonio J. Perez-Marques , Sushila Rao Pentapati , Victor Obasaju , Korey Boehm , and Thomas Dec , Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, New York, for Amicus Curiae Prosecutors Against Gun Violence.

Joseph G.S. Greenlee , Firearms Policy Coalition, Sacramento, California; David B. Kopel , Independence Institute, Denver, Colorado; for Amici Curiae Professors of Second Amendment Law, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, Cato Institute, Madison Society Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation, and Independence Institute.

C.D. Michel , Sean A. Brady , and Matthew D. Cubeiro , Michel & Associates P.C., Long Beach, California; James Hochberg , James Hochberg Attorney at Law LLLC, Honolulu, Hawaii; for Amici Curiae Hawaii Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association Inc., and Gun Owners of California.

Mark M. Murakami , Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, Honolulu, Hawaii; Jonathan Lowy , Kelly Sampson , and Christa Nichols , Brady, Washington, D.C.; for Amicus Curiae Brady.

Dissent by Judge O'Scannlain; Dissent by Judge R. Nelson.


OPINION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDINGS... 773

A. Hawai`i's Licensing Scheme ... 773

1. History of Firearm Regulation in Hawai`i... 773 2. Hawai`i's Current Scheme ... 775 a. The statute ... 775 b. The County of Hawai`i's regulations...

Let's get started

Leagle.com

Welcome to the leading source of independent legal reporting
Sign on now to see your case.
Or view more than 10 million decisions and orders.

  • Updated daily.
  • Uncompromising quality.
  • Complete, Accurate, Current.

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases