Hawaii’s gun grabbers just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar—or more accurately, with a red pen slashing through their own unconstitutional laws. In a scorching new filing in Yukutake v. Lopez, plaintiffs accuse the state of surreptitiously rewriting its challenged firearms restrictions mid-litigation, all to dodge an inevitable courtroom smackdown. The twist? This isn’t just bureaucratic sleight-of-hand; the filing spotlights how Hawaii’s Attorney General Anne Lopez may have played fast and loose with the Ninth Circuit, allegedly downplaying her office’s fingerprints on these updates. For those tracking the case, Yukutake challenges Hawaii’s draconian post-Bruen permitting schemes—think subjective good cause requirements and endless delays that turn Second Amendment rights into a privilege for the patient and well-connected. By tweaking the laws under the radar, Hawaii isn’t just stalling; it’s gaslighting the judiciary, betting on judicial inertia to let bad law linger.
Dig deeper, and this reeks of the classic anti-2A playbook: legislate first, litigate later, then retrofit when the courts start sniffing around. Remember Bruen’s 2022 bombshell? It nuked may-issue schemes nationwide, forcing states like Hawaii to scramble. But instead of complying, Honolulu’s crew allegedly rewrote statutes to mimic constitutionality—swapping overt bans for veiled barriers—while assuring the Ninth Circuit that nothing substantive changed. If proven, this isn’t mere sloppiness; it’s potential misconduct that could trigger sanctions, remand, or worse, expose the AG’s dual role as both litigator and law-drafter as a conflict ripe for disqualification. The filing’s evidence? Side-by-side comparisons of pre- and post-tweak laws, timestamps tying changes to court deadlines, and AG communications that smell like a cover-up.
For the 2A community, this is catnip: a blueprint for dismantling blue-state end-runs around SCOTUS. Wins here could ripple to California, New York, and beyond, validating aggressive discovery tactics to unmask state shenanigans. Gun owners nationwide should cheer—Hawaii’s hubris might just hand us a precedent for transparency in the Bruen era. Stay locked on Yukutake; if the Ninth bites, it could be the domino that topples tropical tyranny.
