HONOLULU, HAWAII – A new lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, challenging Hawaii’s gun laws and their impact on young adults. The lawsuit, filed by 19-year-old Elijah Pinales and 18-year-old Juda Roache, argues that the state’s ban on gun ownership for 18 to 20-year-olds is unconstitutional and infringes on their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
According to their lawyers, Hawaii is the only state with a complete ban on acquiring and owning firearms and ammunition for this age group. While some states allow 18-year-olds to purchase long guns and some allow for private party transfer of handguns, Hawaii’s strict laws prohibit any form of gun ownership for young adults.
Pinales and Roache, along with their lawyers, assert that the ban on gun ownership for 18 to 20-year-olds is a violation of their right to self-defense. Roache’s mother also wants to give him a firearm and ammunition, but is unable to do so due to the state’s laws.
Currently, federal law requires a person to be 21 years old to purchase a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer and 18 to buy a long gun. However, there is an 18-year-old minimum for handgun purchases from unlicensed sellers and no minimum age for long guns, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Chris Marvin, a Hawaii resident with Everytown, notes that states are increasingly raising the age for purchasing firearms and ammunition. He points to a recent federal appeals court ruling in Colorado, where a law raising the age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21 was allowed to take effect while the legal battle over it continues.
New York and Illinois also have strict laws limiting people under 21 from possessing firearms, according to David Pucino, legal director and deputy chief counsel for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. He states that Hawaii’s strong gun laws have contributed to the state’s low gun death rates and that attempts to weaken these laws are driven by extremists.
Everytown reports that firearms are the leading cause of death for young people ages 18 to 20 and the firearm suicide rate in this age group has increased by 41% in the last decade. Additionally, 18 to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of those 21 and older.
The Hawaii attorney general’s office has not yet been served with the complaint and declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues that adults under 21 are still part of the national community and should not be denied their Second Amendment rights. They point out that 18 to 20-year-olds have the right to vote and serve in the military, and are otherwise full-fledged members of society.
This lawsuit comes at a time when Hawaii is still grappling with a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirmed Americans’ right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. This decision, known as the Bruen decision, has had a significant impact on gun laws across the country, setting a new standard for interpreting them.
The lawsuit argues that there is no historical tradition of prohibiting the purchase and ownership of firearms and ammunition by adults under 21. In fact, some of the nation’s founding figures, such as Aaron Burr and James Monroe, enlisted in the Continental Army at ages 19 and 18 respectively, with their own arms and ammunition.
Hawaii’s ban on gun ownership for young adults dates back to 1994, but the state has recently strengthened its laws by also prohibiting the possession of ammunition by those under 21.
The lawsuit has several plaintiffs, including Danger Close Tactical in Honolulu and JGB Arms on Kauai, both federally licensed firearms dealers who want to do business with customers who are 18 to 20 years old. Another plaintiff is the Second Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit based in Bellevue, Washington.
The quest for a preliminary injunction against enforcing the ban on gun ownership for young adults is a crucial step in protecting their Second Amendment rights. It is important to remember that these individuals are adults, with the same rights and responsibilities as any other member of society. Denying them the right to own a firearm for self-defense goes against the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation and is a violation of their constitutional rights.
Hawaii’s gun laws may be among the strongest in the country, but they should not come at the cost of denying young adults their Second
