The Primary Problem with the ‘Vampire Rule’

The “vampire rule” is basically any law that says you can’t come into a place otherwise open to the public if you’re carrying a firearm without explicit permission, kind of like how a vampire supposedly can’t enter a home without permission.

It’s a stupid rule, if for no other reason than there’s no way a criminal is going to follow that rule, no matter what.

However, there’s a bigger issue at work here, and that’s how the law compares to the status quo in most other states. First, let’s look at this piece from The Independent, via AOL.

Hawaii’s gun laws, long among the strictest in the nation, will be the focus of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The court is taking up the state’s ban on firearms on private property that is open to the public, such as stores and hotels, unless the owner explicitly allows it.

Here’s what to know about the Hawaii case:

Banned on beaches, bars and private property

Three Maui residents sued in 2023 to challenge new laws prohibiting the carrying of guns at places such as beaches, banks, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

The plaintiffs argue that Hawaii is infringing on people’s Second Amendment rights. They say they want to protect themselves at isolated beaches, and many property owners do not put up “guns allowed” signs for fear of scaring off customers.

Carrying guns in public is still fairly new to Hawaii. Before a 2022 Supreme Court decision expanded gun rights nationwide, the state’s county police chiefs made it virtually impossible by rarely issuing permits for either open or concealed carry.

The Supreme Court is considering this case, but only on the vampire rule itself. They’ve previously ruled that states can bar the carrying of guns in so-called sensitive places, and bars, banks, and alcohol-serving restaurants aren’t unusual as sensitive places. Beaches make less sense, but it still seems to meet the standards as typically described, so I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.

But the rules regarding whether people can carry guns in other businesses open to the public is a different matter, and the way this works is that a business will have to be explicit.

As noted above, though, in states that allow signs prohibiting guns on the premises, many don’t bother for fear of alienating customers. In vampire rule states, the same is true of “guns allowed” signs.

However, here’s the real issue with this law, and it’s one that I pray the Supreme Court addresses.

The law in Hawaii and a handful of other vampire rule states presumes that your right is forfeit on private property without you being expressly told that it will be respected. Someone has to tell me that my right to keep and bear arms applies in their place of business, or else it simply doesn’t exist.

While I’m fine with business owners having the right to allow or disallow guns on their property, that’s because business owners have the right to allow or disallow any of my rights on their property if they so desire. They have a right to ask me not to pray over a meal before eating. They have the right to ask me not to engage in certain discussions while sitting and chatting over coffee with a friend. They have that right, and I have to respect that.

But there’s never been a presumption that your rights don’t exist within given confines without permission. That makes it a privilege, not a right. It doesn’t matter which right we’re talking about, either.

Anti-gunners tend to roll their eyes when we point out that they treat the Second Amendment as a second-class right, but this is the epitome of a second-class right. The idea that this one is considered non-existent until and unless someone approves means that it’s not a right at all, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a permit-to-purchase requirement, a “may issue” permitting scheme, or having to look for a sign that says you can exercise your right to keep and bear arms while you’re buying car insurance.

Either we have our rights, or we don’t.

Telling businesses they have to opt in to respecting gun rights is no different than telling them they have to opt out, except in that all-important aspect of our rights being the default setting, not an option someone selects from a menu of options.

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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