Bikinis, Surfboards, and Battle-Axes? Hawaii Loosens Long-Strict Weapons Laws After Supreme Court Ruling

TIME

Hawaii's tourist hotspot of Waikiki is known for bikinis, shopping and surfboards. But resident Andrew Roberts has recently introduced a different item on evening walks through his neighborhood: a long-poled battle-axe.

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00:00Hawaiʻi has long had some of the strictest gun restrictions in the nation, but a 2022

00:12U.S. Supreme Court decision has been forcing states, including Hawaiʻi, to revamp its

00:17gun laws.

00:18That decision says Americans have a right to carry firearms for self-defense.

00:25The Hawaiʻi Attorney General's Office warns there's still a lot of laws in place that

00:29govern how these kinds of weapons can be used.

00:32And some who advocate for gun safety say they're also concerned about these kinds of weapons

00:37on the streets.

00:38The Hawaiʻi law has been revised to allow for the open carry of all melee weapons.

00:47By melee, I mean like swords, axes, halberds, anything that essentially is a non-firearm

00:54weapon.

00:56I'll walk through Waikīkī with it and just have a bunch of conversations with people.

00:59I get stopped probably two or three times on an average evening walk and just have a

01:04conversation about what gun laws are in Hawaiʻi and what the weapons laws are.

01:08This is just like, you know, part of my heritage, right, because, you know, everybody think

01:12oh Hawaiʻi, hula skirts, you know, hula dancing, ipoi, no, we were warriors too.

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