HONOLULU (AP) — The latest lawsuit to take aim at Hawaii’s gun laws challenges the state's ban on gun ownership for young adults 18 to 20 years old, which Second Amendment advocates say is an unconstitutional restriction on the right of Americans to bear arms.
Elijah Pinales, 19, and Juda Roache, who turns 18 next month, want to own guns for self-defense, according to their lawsuit filed Wednesday night in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.
Their lawyers assert that Hawaii is the only state with a complete ban on acquiring and owning firearms and ammunition by those who are 18 to 20. Some states allow 18-year-olds to purchase a long gun and some allow for private party transfer of handguns, said Alan Beck, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit and has lodged numerous other challenges to Hawaii weapons laws.
Roache's mother wants to give him a firearm and ammunition, the lawsuit says.
Federal law requires a person to be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer and 18 to buy a long gun from a dealer, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. There's an 18-year-old minimum for handgun purchases from unlicensed sellers and no minimum age for long guns, according to the group's research.
Chris Marvin, a Hawaii resident with Everytown, said states are raising the age for purchasing firearms and ammunition, noting a federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that a Colorado law raising the age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21 can take effect while the legal battle over it continues.
New York and Illinois also have broad laws limiting people under 21 from possessing firearms, said David Pucino, legal director and deputy chief counsel for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
“Hawai’i has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and it has among the very lowest gun death rates," he said in a statement Thursday. “That’s not an accident, but it hasn’t stopped extremists from attacking Hawai’i’s gun laws at every turn.”
According to Everytown, firearms are the leading cause of death for young people ages 18 to 20, the firearm suicide rate in that age group has jumped 41% in the last decade, and 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of those 21 and older.
The Hawaii attorney general’s office said it had not been served with the complaint and declined to comment.
“There can be no real argument that adults under 21 are not part of the national community,” the lawsuit said, noting that 18-to-20-year-olds have the right to vote. “They have the right to serve in the military and are otherwise full-fledged members of society and the People.”
The quest for a preliminary injunction against enforcing a prohibition on gun ownership for young adults comes as Hawaii continues to contend with a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.
The so-called Bruen decision upended gun laws nationwide and set a new standard for interpreting gun laws, such that modern firearm laws must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
There’s no historical tradition of prohibiting the purchase and ownership of firearms and ammunition by adults under 21, according to the lawsuit, which describes some of the nation's founding figures such as Aaron Burr, who at 19 enlisted in the Continental Army with his own arms and ammunition, and James Monroe who did the same at 18.
Hawaii's gun ownership ban for young adults dates to 1994, the lawsuit said. The state “doubled down” this year by prohibiting the possession of ammunition by those under 21, the lawsuit said.
Danger Close Tactical in Honolulu and JGB Arms on Kauai are federally licensed firearms dealers who are plaintiffs in the case because they want to do business with customers who are 18 to 20 years old, the lawsuit said.
Another plaintiff is the Second Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit in Bellevue, Washington.
The storefront for Danger Close Tactical, a federally licensed firearms dealer, is seen in a Honolulu neighborhood Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Most of the attention surrounding Monday night's showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers has been centered on the first coaching matchup since 2012 between John and Jim Harbaugh.
Once the game kicks off, all the focus will be on quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert.
“To be honest, I don’t think about it," Jackson said of the hype around the Harbaugh Bowl. "I can’t speak for everyone else. I remember watching them, not literally play against each other, but coaching against each other for the Super Bowl game. I remember watching that. I thought that was dope, but I don’t think about it right now.”
Jackson directs a Ravens offense that's averaging a league-leading 430.1 yards per game. The seventh-year signal caller also leads the NFL with a 117.3 passer rating and is second with 25 touchdown passes.
Herbert was hampered by foot and ankle injuries the first quarter of the season, which also steepened the learning curve with a new offense. Since their bye in Week 5, though, the Chargers' offense has been more consistent, averaging 368.2 yards — eighth-best in the league over the past six games.
Both quarterbacks have excelled when playing on “Monday Night Football." Jackson is 6-2 with a 124.0 passer rating, 20 touchdowns and no interceptions. Herbert is 4-3 with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
“Coach Harbaugh has done a great job and we enjoy playing for him so much," Herbert said. “We know how important it is for him. It is another very important game for us, but also understand it is a special moment for him."
Jackson's strength this season has been on intermediate passes. He's completing an NFL-best 69.1% of his passes that are 10-19 yards in the air for 965 yards with 11 touchdowns and only one interception.
Herbert and the Chargers' penchant for wanting to burn opposing defenses with deep balls has been rediscovered under Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Herbert has seven touchdowns and no interceptions on passes of at least 20 air yards. He'll be facing a Ravens defense that has allowed the second-most yards and tied for the most touchdowns (seven) given up on deep passes.
There's good reason why there's a lot of hype surrounding this matchup — it is an important game for both teams to solidify their chances of getting to the playoffs.
Los Angeles (7-3) has won four straight and holds the fifth seed in the AFC. Baltimore (7-4) holds the sixth seed and can't afford to go two losses down to the Chargers if they can't catch Pittsburgh for the AFC North title.
This is the third matchup between the Harbaugh brothers. The previous two were when Jim was coaching the San Francisco 49ers.
John has won both meetings — 16-6 in Baltimore on Thanksgiving Day 2011 and 34-31 in Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans to end the 2012 season.
Monday night's game is occurring on their parents' 63rd wedding anniversary. Jack and Jackie Harbaugh will not be at the game and are spending Thanksgiving week in Florida.
The quarterbacks aren't the only intriguing matchup. Both teams also possess strong run games.
Baltimore's Derrick Henry leads the league with 1,185 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns (13 rushing, 2 receiving). He's also the fourth player in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with a touchdown in each of his first 11 games in a season.
Henry replaced the two backs now in Los Angeles' backfield — J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Dobbins is third in the AFC with 726 yards and his 4.8 yards per carry is second in the conference among those with at least 100 carries. Henry leads with a 6.0 yard average.
Edwards missed four games with an ankle injury, but is averaging 5.1 yards on 16 carries in the two games since his return.
Monday's matchup features the top three players in the AFC in running plays of at least 20 yards. Jackson has 24, followed by Henry (23) and Dobbins (22).
The connections in this matchup run deeper than the Harbaughs.
Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz spent 26 seasons in the Ravens' front office. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter are two of five assistants who also spent time on John Harbaugh's Baltimore staff.
Six players, including Dobbins and Edwards, are also former Ravens. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy was with the Chargers during the 2022 season, while backup quarterback Josh Johnson (San Diego) and outside linebacker David Ojabo (Michigan) played for Jim Harbaugh in college.
Ravens running backs coach Willie Taggart was on Harbaugh's staff at Stanford, but also played for family patriarch Jack Harbaugh at Western Kentucky. Secondary coach Doug Mallory played with Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and also was a defensive analyst on his staff.
Los Angeles — tied for fifth in the league with 34 sacks on the season — has 21 in its last four games. Linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu has led the way with seven sacks in that span, while linebacker Bud Dupree and defensive lineman Poona Ford have three apiece.
Baltimore is tied for third with 35 sacks and has recorded at least two sacks in 14 straight games, the league’s longest active streak. Van Noy leads the team with seven.
Tuipulotu and Van Noy are the only players in the NFL this season to have three straight games with multiple sacks.
One player the Ravens could count on pretty much unconditionally through the years has been kicker Justin Tucker, but he missed twice last weekend against Pittsburgh, raising his season total of failed field goal attempts to six.
“If you just take the 10,000-foot view, and you look at where all the kicks have gone, they’ve gone just wide left,” Tucker said. “The adjustment is pretty clear; I just need to make it a point not to let the ball carry to the left. So, that’s something that we’re going to continue to work on in practice.”
AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Owings Mills, Maryland, contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) is chased by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, scrambles as Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen tries to stop him during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, right, celebrates after a rushing touchdown by running back J.K. Dobbins (27) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
