The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Hawaii's gun-licensing law on Monday, though three justices expressed a willingness to hear arguments over the issue later.
The majority did not explain their reasoning in a brief order declining to take the case. But Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote that he would vote to hear a case to "reaffirm that the Second Amendment warrants the same respect as any other constitutional right."
"The court could later revisit the case of Christopher L. Wilson," said Justice Neil Gorsuch, regarding Wilson's argument that his Second Amendment rights were violated when he was charged with carrying a gun without a license.
Wilson was charged in Hawaii, whose licensing laws at the time were among the country's strictest. Prosecutors say he was found hiking on private property at night with a handgun tucked into his waistband in 2017.
Wilson fought the charges, citing the Supreme Court's landmark 2022 decision that expanded gun rights and led to upheaval in the nation's firearms law landscape. A state court judge agreed and threw out the case.
But Hawaii's highest court revived the case in a blistering opinion, calling the 2022 Supreme Court decision "fuzzy" and "backward looking" over its requirement for modern gun laws to be rooted in historical regulations.
Wilson appealed to the nation's highest court. He asked them to toss out Hawaii Supreme Court's decision, arguing those justices flouted high court opinions favoring state handgun licensing rules that were too strict at that time.
Prosecutors argued that "the case came under state law," giving jurisdiction to Hawaii's Supreme Court. They also referenced Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence which stated states could still have licensing requirements despite expanded gun rights decisions.
Hawaii has since changed its gun licensing system to remove an approval requirement for firearm licenses.