Black Codes

The Supreme Court's 2021 Bruen decision requires modern gun laws to align with historical firearm regulation traditions to pass Second Amendment scrutiny. In Wolford v. Lopez, the Court struck down Hawaii's law requiring permission to carry guns on private public-access property, rejecting a Louisiana Black Code law as an analog due to its racist origins.

The Supreme Court struck down Hawaii's private-property concealed-carry restriction in a 6-3 decision, criticizing the state's use of a Reconstruction-era Black Code to justify the law. Attorney Kevin O'Grady, representing plaintiffs, condemned Hawaii's reliance on the 1865 Louisiana statute, calling it a 'tainted artifact' designed to disarm newly freed Black Americans. The ruling rejected the Black Code as a valid legal precedent under the Second Amendment.

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.