The Supreme Court just handed down a decision that compromises the safety of our communities, and I wanted to make sure you saw it as soon as possible.
The case came out of Hawai‘i (Wolford v. Lopez), and it boils down to a really simple question: If someone wants to bring a gun into a private business that’s open to the public, should they have to get the owner’s permission first?
The Court just said no.
Now, someone carrying a firearm can just assume they’re allowed to walk right into your local coffee shop, grocery store, gym, or restaurant unless the owner has already jumped through hoops to explicitly ban them.
It sounds like a minor legal technicality, but it isn’t.
This ruling completely flips the script. It takes the responsibility off the person carrying the weapon and dumps it right onto small business owners, workers, and community spaces. Instead of expecting a gun owner to respect someone else’s property, the Court is forcing busy shop owners to post signs, draft new policies, and deal with the stressful fallout themselves.
To be absolutely clear: Business owners still have the right to ban guns on their property. This ruling doesn’t change that, and it doesn’t touch the protections we have in place for sensitive areas like schools or courthouses.
But it is still a massive setback, and requires small business owners to choose between protecting their customer – us – or risk making themselves a target of hate and vitriol from the gun lobby and their base.
This is a stark reminder that the gun lobby isn’t just fighting us in legislatures. They are quietly chipping away at our safety in courtrooms, state-by-state, case-by-case. They want to weaken the basic, common-sense norms that keep our families safe when we go out to eat or run errands.
That is exactly why our work matters so much right now. We can’t let up.
Donate today to help us fight back against these dangerous setbacks.
In solidarity,
Mike McIntyre
Director of Government Affairs
ALLIANCE FOR GUN RESPONSIBILITY
P.O. Box 4187 Seattle, WA 98194