(FixThisNation.com) – On Friday a judge is going to be examining whether Hawaii is allowed to keep enforcing a new law that completely bans firearms on their beaches, as a means of keeping them safer
Three Maui residents filed a lawsuit against the law claiming that they should be allowed to carry firearms on beaches and other places that are considered to be sensitive according to the law. The law first took effect this month and it could lead to a misdemeanor offense for those who don’t abide by it.
Plaintiffs Atom Kasprzycki and Jason and Alison Wolford’s lawyers pointed out that the three wanted to be able to protect themselves when fishing or walking on isolated beaches.
U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi is going to need to decide whether the temporary restraining order the three have asked for is going to be granted. If it is then the law would be temporarily blocked until the lawsuit is settled. In the court filing the state claimed that the law was necessary both for the economy and for increasing public safety. As they argued, the beaches are at the center of the $19-billion tourism industry in Hawaii.
State attorneys have also argued that beaches needed to be gun-free so that families and other cultural gatherings could take place there. Hawaii is one of the states with the strictest gun laws in the nation which has allowed it to have the lowest gun violence rates in the country. Other areas where guns are not permitted include restaurants serving alcohol and bank parking lots.
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