Andrew Teter v Anne E. Lopez En Banc Hawaii's Butterfly Knife Ban

Описание: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a final en banc decision on January 22, 2025, declaring the case moot and vacating the previous judgment.

Reason for Dismissal: While the appeal was pending, the Hawaii Legislature repealed the total ban on butterfly knives, switchblades, and other bladed weapons. Because the new law no longer prohibited these items, the court ruled there was no longer a live controversy to decide.
Remand: The case was sent back to the district court for further proceedings, effectively erasing the earlier legal victory for knife owners as a binding precedent.

Case History

District Court Ruling (2020): The U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii originally upheld the ban, finding that butterfly knives were not protected by the Second Amendment.
Ninth Circuit Panel Decision (2023): A three-judge panel reversed that ruling, holding that butterfly knives are "arms" in common use for self-defense. Following the Supreme Court's standard in Bruen, the panel found that Hawaii failed to prove the ban was consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of weapon regulation.
En Banc Review (2024–2025): The full Ninth Circuit voted to rehear the case (vacating the panel's pro-Second Amendment decision). Before the en banc court could rule on the merits, Hawaii's legislative change led to the final January 2025 dismissal.

Significance

Impact on Rights: Although the specific case was dismissed, the litigation pressured Hawaii to lift its decades-old ban on various knives and bladed weapons.
Judicial Controversy: Some judges and legal commentators criticized the outcome as "procedural gamesmanship," arguing that the government avoided a definitive Second Amendment ruling by changing the law at the last minute to moot the case.