Texas has joined 21 other states in asking the Supreme Court to uphold Hawaiians’ Second Amendment right to bear arms following a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year that upheld Hawaii’s ban on residents bearing arms outside of their homes. The states filed an amicus brief with the high court to help resolve a split among the federal circuit courts of appeals after several of the courts ruled against the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case, a landmark gun-rights ruling. “One of the highest responsibilities of a state is to safeguard the rights of its citizens,” the states wrote (pdf) in their brief last week, “including the right ‘to keep and bear arms’ under the Second Amendment.” “Law-abiding citizens keep firearms for self-protection—both inside and outside of their homes. Amici seek to ensure that their residents will not be deprived of their Second Amendment freedoms.” …