In the wake of the Bruen decision, a number of anti-gun states started passing laws meant to curtail concealed carry as best they could. The Supreme Court made it clear they couldn’t prohibit it through “may issue” rules, and they couldn’t declare an entire city a gun-free zone, but that left a whole lot of ground they could screw around in.
One of the worst outcomes of that was what got termed the “Vampire Rule.”
Over at The Daily Signal, Amy Swearer addresses the rule and some of the problems with it.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to a Hawaii gun law that renders concealed carry permits in that state practically useless. While the nation’s highest court appears poised to strike down the law, it nonetheless indicates gun control advocates’ deep misunderstanding of the importance of the right to armed self-defense.
In 2022, the Supreme Court struck down restrictions on concealed carry permits that states like Hawaii used to eliminate the right of public carry for most ordinary, law-abiding citizens. In response, Hawaii and several other states passed a series of spiteful measures—including the so-called Vampire Rule now before the court—intentionally designed to make as many public places as possible off-limits to gun owners.
The name “Vampire Rule” derives from old folklore that a vampire can’t enter a home unless first invited inside by the owner.
Historically, the default rule for public carry presumed that lawful gun owners could carry firearms on private property unless the owner expressly prohibited it. Hawaii’s law, however, turns this historical default on its head, essentially treating concealed carry permit holders like vampires.
Of course, the default for all civil liberties was that they were presumed on private property unless the owner specifically said otherwise.
For example, if I gather with a number of friends at a local restaurant to talk politics, the presumption is that I’m free to speak on any subject I want. If the ownership or management object, they can either ask me to stop or ask me to leave. If they ask me to stop, I can either do so or decide that the restaurant doesn’t warrant my business.
But the presumption is still there.
The same is true with freedom of religion. I can say grace if I so desire, unless the management tells me to stop, that they don’t respect me exercising my faith. That is their prerogative, and I can respond as I see fit within the law.
So the presumption is that your rights are intact unless the management communicates that they don’t want you exercising them on their property.
But the Vampire Rule flips that presumption. They require businesses to expressly grant permission for a civil liberty, something that wouldn’t be acceptable for any other civil right.
Try telling me again how the Second Amendment isn’t treated like a second-class right. I’ll wait.
However, Swearer also points out something worth noting:
While this might not seem like a big deal at first glance, the lower courts that upheld the law freely acknowledged that, regardless of the default rule, most private property owners will decline to post any signs that give or revoke specialized permission. As a practical matter, then, the rule all but ensures that the vast majority of public spaces remain “Second Amendment-free” zones. Indeed, this was the law’s entire goal.
This is an important point, because a lot of businesses simply don’t care one way or another. They don’t have a big issue with someone carrying a gun, but they don’t care enough to expressly grant permission.
We know it’s not that big of an issue because most businesses didn’t have gun-free zone signs outside their doors before the Vampire Rule went into effect.
So, most won’t bother one way or another, but the effect is that most places people might want to go will be gun-free, even if the ownership doesn’t really care either way.
And as Swearer then goes on to note a number of defensive gun uses that took place in September of this year alone, having people carry guns is a very good thing. Blocking them with something like the Vampire Rule isn’t helping keep our communities safer. Quite the contrary.
It’s why the rule needs a stake in the heart.
Hopefully, enough of the Supreme Court justices will side with Van Helsing over Dracula in this case.
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