November 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 30

LAW REVIEW
on publicly carrying firearms in
parks and on beaches. "
In this earlier case, the Maryland
district court had relied on
an 1857 ordinance that stated " all
persons are forbidden to carry firearms
or to throw stones or other
missiles " within Central Park in
New York City. A similar 1870 law
enacted by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania was cited, which
stated that " no persons shall carry
firearms " in Fairmount Park in
Philadelphia. In addition, an 1895
Michigan state law provided: " No
person shall fire or discharge any
gun or pistol or carry firearms or
throw stones or other missiles "
within a park in the City of Detroit.
Moreover, a 1905 ordinance
in Chicago, Illinois, stated " all
persons are forbidden to carry firearms
or to throw stones or other
missiles within any of the Parks of
the City. "
The Maryland district court noted
similar restrictions were enacted
to bar the carrying of firearms
in (1) Saint Paul, Minnesota; (2)
Williamsport, Pennsylvania;
(3)
Wilmington, Delaware; (4) Reading,
Pennsylvania; (5) Boulder,
Colorado; (6) Trenton, New Jersey;
(7) Phoenixville, Pennsylvania;
(8) Oakland, California; (9)
Staunton, Virginia; and (10) Birmingham,
Alabama.
On a state level, the Maryland
district court found Minnesota in
1905 had prohibited the possession
of firearms within state parks unless
they were unloaded and sealed
by a park commissioner. In 1917,
Wisconsin prohibited bringing a
" gun or rifle " into any " wildlife refuge,
state park, or state fish hatchery
lands " unless it was unloaded
and in a carrying case. In 1921,
North Carolina enacted a law prohibiting
the carrying of firearms in
both private and public parks without
the permission of the owner or
manager of that park.
Insufficient Historical
Evidence
As characterized by this Hawaii
federal district court, the Maryland
district court had concluded these
cited laws and ordinances " demonstrated
a national historical tradition
of carrying firearms in parks.
In so doing, however, the Hawaii
district court found the Maryland
district court had 'relied on only
one local ordinance that was in effect
prior to the Fourteenth Amendment's
ratification.' " The court further
noted " the other sixteen laws
or ordinances were passed after the
Fourteenth Amendment's ratification,
and nine of those laws were
passed in the twentieth century " :
Of the sixteen laws and ordinances
passed after the Fourteenth
Amendment's ratification,
fifteen of those were passed at
least twenty years after the Fourteenth
Amendment's ratification.
Put another way: out of the seventeen
laws the district court reviewed,
only one local ordinance
was enacted before the Fourteenth
Amendment's ratification and
only one state law was enacted
" during " the time of the Fourteenth
Amendment's ratification.
Accordingly, the Hawaii federal
district court was " not convinced
that evidence of one local
In Bruen, the Supreme Court held the
Constitution presumptively protects
conduct that is covered by the plain text
of the Second Amendment.
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November 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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