SCOTUS Gun Cases Coming Soon

The Supreme Court is weeks away from dropping opinions on two major gun cases, and at least one of them hits close to home for anyone who carries.

State of play: All oral arguments are finished. The Court typically clears its docket by end of June, which means these decisions could land any day between now and then.

The two cases to know:

• Wolford v. Lopez — Hawaii required licensed concealed carry holders to get express written permission from property owners before carrying on private property open to the public. Restaurants, parking lots, shops — all off-limits by default. The question: does that violate the Second Amendment?
• United States v. Hemani — Federal law prohibits illegal drug users from possessing firearms. The question: does that prohibition survive Bruen's historical tradition test?

Wolford is the one to watch closely. Hawaii's law is essentially a default-deny framework — your carry permit means nothing unless a business owner affirmatively opts you in. Several states with recently enacted carry laws have used similar language, and a ruling here will set the boundary for how far governments can go in carving up where a permit is actually valid.

The legal question: Bruen (2022) requires gun regulations to be grounded in the historical tradition of firearm regulation at the founding. Hawaii will have a hard time finding 18th-century precedent for mandatory opt-in permission slips from tavern owners. That doesn't guarantee a win, but it's a weak historical record to defend.

Hemani is narrower but still significant. The federal prohibition on drug users possessing guns (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)) has already taken hits in lower courts post-Bruen. The justices taking it up suggests they want to settle the circuit disagreements. A ruling either way resolves years of conflicting outcomes.

What Idaho owners should know: Idaho's permitless carry law is strong, but Idahoans travel, and a ruling in Wolford will directly affect whether states like Hawaii, California, or New York can gut the practical value of any carry permit through property-restriction schemes. If you carry while traveling, this ruling matters.

What to watch: Opinions drop on Mondays and Thursdays through late June. SCOTUSblog posts them live as they're released. Both gun cases are among the more contested remaining decisions, so don't expect them in the first batch.