The Ninth Circuit today decided Young v. Hawaii, No. 12-17808:

We must decide whether the Second Amendment encompasses the right of a responsible law-abiding citizen to carry a firearm openly for self-defense outside of the home.

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As was the case in Peruta II, we find ourselves navigating waters uncharted by Heller and McDonald: the degree to which the Second Amendment protects, or does not protect, the carrying of firearms outside of the home.

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We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence, which the State of Hawaii "has understandably sought to fight . . . with every legal tool at its disposal." Wrenn, 864 F.3d at 667. We see nothing in our opinion that would prevent the State from regulating the right to bear arms, for the Second Amendment leaves the State "a variety of tools for combatting [the problem of gun violence], including some measures regulating handguns." Heller, 554 U.S. at 636.

But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. We would thus flout the Constitution if we were to hold that, "in regulating the manner of bearing arms, the authority of [the State] has no other limit than its own discretion." Reid, 1 Ala. at 616. While many respectable scholars and activists might find virtue in a firearms-carry regime that restricts the right to a privileged few, "the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table." Heller, 554 U.S. at 636.