Hawaii Firearms Coalition

"There were 952 robberies in 2019, which was up from 807 in 2018. While there was only a slight increase in purse snatchings in 2019, the first month of 2020 saw a significant rise. “January 2020 looks bad to be completely open and honest with you,” Ballard told council members."

A lot of information in this article about the increase in crime. Maybe of these are happening in the home.

Yet again HPD ignores firearms as a valid method of stoping home invasions, and suggests getting a dog,
while I understand the logic and own several dogs myself, they are a deterrent. A dog will not top the actions of a determined person, they are no different to a lock, a floodlight or an alarm.

ANR

http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/May-2020/Crime-Watch-Whats-With-All-the-Brazen-Attacks-in-Honolulu-the-Past-Year ... See more

THE MAGAZINE BILL IS DEAD!

The bill that would have prohibited ownership of any magazine holding more than 10 rounds, including rifles, is dead. It will not go to the governor to be passed into law.

Two bills will go to the governor, firstly the ghost gun bill. This bill bans the manufacturing of firearms for your own personal use. The second bill requires you to report to the police department anytime you take a firearm out of the state permanently.

Both of these bills would require the governor's signature to be passed into law. Stay tuned for information on how to contact the governor to veto these bills. ... See more

Register to Vote Online! Primaries registration deadline is July 9 at 4:30pm.
https://olvr.hawaii.gov/

Your vote DOES make a difference with some district races won by a few votes. My Rep in Aiea won by 20 votes. There are many new Pro-2A candidates in different parties making this an unusual year.

Get your friends, family, and coworkers registered to vote. Check your registration if you moved residences as ballots will be mailed to you later this month. ... See more

Honolulu Police Department is yet again showing it's incompetence when it comes to firearms. With thousands of firearms being sold since the pandemic started, many are finding it impossible to actually register them.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Honolulu Police Department forbade the public from registering firearms without an appointment. They set up a phone number for people to call to make these appointments and then refused to answer the calls. Some people reported calling more than 200 times to make an appointment.

Our sources in the department had informed us that most calls were just not answered, even when people were available to do so. They would not confirm if this was done at the request of higher-ups, but we suspect it was.

After almost a month of this antiquated system, the department switched to an online appointment system. The system quickly became overwhelmed with the department allocating 15+ minute time slots for 5-minute transactions. Thus, artificially creating a reduced availability of services at the firearms section.

As of writing this, the system only allows for people to make appointments up to 90 days in advance. This means that anyone wishing to obtain or register a firearm is unable to. The number of appointments available to the public is completely full. Every morning, hundreds of people try to access the website to get an appointment. This causes the system to freeze and crash, something reminiscent of the state's unemployment website in the early days of the pandemic.

In his 8th proclamation, Governor David Ige acknowledged this problem and allowed for the police departments to make policies that would exempt people from registering their firearms within the five-day limit set by law. HPD however, has refused to make this policy. Instead, they rely on an unofficial policy of telling people verbally (only if they ask) on what they can/should do.

Currently, the police department appears to be telling people that they must make an appointment after purchasing a firearm and must keep their firearm within their home until its registered. This contradicts Hawaii's law and contradicts the governor's proclamation.

The proclamation allowed them to make a policy for registering firearms. NOT limit where a person can take a legally owned firearm. Anyone who has been told this is not required to comply. They are able to take their firearm anywhere they are legally allowed, including hunting and to the firing range.

So to recap, Honolulu police department, though its own free will is:
Refusing to register firearms within the required rime frame,
Refusing to make public policy in compliance with the governor's proclamation,
Refusing to reopen the police department using social distancing and masks (as allowed at both the state and city level)
Using an online system that does not allow people to make appointments.
Providing false information to people with regards to what they can do with their firearms whilst waiting to register.

All of this could be resolved by the state Attorney-general.

Hawaii firearms coalition director Todd Yukutake currently has a lawsuit open against the state with regards to taking a firearm to the police department to register it. Settling this lawsuit would resolve the issue and eliminate the need for the police department to see the firearm.

When you purchase a firearm in Hawaii, the law requires the seller of the firearm to notify the police that the firearm was sold and to whom. This information is all that I needed for the police to issue a registration form to the new owner. This system works great, and we know this because its the exact system used to register vehicles.

For some reason, the state and local police departments want to be able to inspect every firearm that is transferred. They claim its to make sure that the information provided is correct. Even tho the information often comes from a Federally licensed firearm dealer and the punishment for providing false/incorrect information is jail time.

As we have previously shown, the employees at the police department have very little training or experience with firearms and often make mistakes in the data they collect and how they interpret the law. If you ask 5 employees the same question, you are likely to get 5 different opinions.

The only reason we can think for the police departments not to go back to business as normal is to artificially keep the number of firearms that are able to be purchased and registered as low as possible. The country has seen a 300% increase in the number of firearms sold compared to last year, and in a couple of weeks, when the AG releases the data for June, we will see if Hawaii has followed that trend.

Registering your firearm, taking it to the police station, is still required, although it's highly likely in the near future, it won't be. Until then, we recommend people check to see if they can make an appointment to register. But if the system put in place doesn't allow it, then OH WELL. Not your fault. ... See more

On top as submitting testimony for the bills being heard tomorrow you need to Call AND e-mail , if you get voice mail, leave a message.

These are the bills up for hearing:
HB1902 Magazine ban/Family Court Checks
HB2292 Electric guns
HB2744 Ghost gun ban/gun violence commission

And we must oppose all of them,
HB1902 would ban all magazines that can hold more then 10 rounds.
HB2292 would legalize tasers, but would make them harder to get than firearms.
HB2744 would ban people from building firearms, as well as purchasing/owning any firearms parts.

Karl Rhoads (Chair) - senrhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov,
Phone (808) 586-6130, Fax (808) 586-6131

Jarrett Keokahole (Vice Chair) - senkeokahole@capitol.hawaii.gov,
Phone (808) 587-7215, Fax (808) 587-7220

Mike Gabbard - sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov,
Phone (808) 586-6830, Fax (808) 586-6679

Donna Mercado Kim - senkim@capitol.hawaii.gov,
Phone (808) 587-7200, Fax (808) 586-587-7205

Kurt Fevella - senfevella@capitol.hawaii.gov,
Phone (808) 586-6360, Fax (808) 586-6361 ... See more

MORE GUN CONTROL AGAIN!

A 2nd hearing has been scheduled in the House PVM/JUD committees for these two gun control bills. Short notice, but get these written testimonies in. Capitol is closed to the public so there is no in-person testimony allowed.

Reminder you must re-submit testimony for these bills again even if you did so in the past.

Submit them here:
https://hifico.org/pvmjud062420/ ... See more

TESTIMONY NEEDED: JDC HEARING JUNE 25TH
note:. You must resubmit testimony even if you submitted prior to June.

As reported in our earlier post, the Hawaii legislature is resuming their session with 3 gun control bills being heard by Senator Karl Rhoad's Judiciary committee on June 25th. This session is supposed to be focused on the COVID19 response whith most other bills were scrapped. However Rhoads continues to push the gun control agenda during this emergency.

These are the bills up for hearing:
HB1902 Magazine ban/Family Court Checks
HB2292 Electric guns
HB2744 Ghost gun ban/gun violence commission

We have our easy to use testimony forms ready for you to fill out here: https://hifico.org/jdc062520/ with the priority deadline of June 24th at 10am. We want hundreds of testimonies to stop these bills. Have your family members, coworkers, and friends submit testimony. Numbers count and this may be a close vote.

You also need to call members of the Judiciary committee and Senate President Kouchi to state your opposition to these bills and to get them to cancel the hearing so they can focus on COVID19. There is no reason for them to push for a magazine ban when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will release their decision in Duncan vs Becerra in the coming months. https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/04/03/coronavirus-key-2a-case/

Testimony page: https://hifico.org/jdc062520/ ... See more

Whilst in the middle of a pandemic, Hawaii legislators are still hard at work pushing Gun control bills, its almost as if they care more about infringing on the second amendment than they do about dealing with Hawaii's economic and social problems caused by the governments actions during the pandemic.

The Committee on Judiciary chaired by senator Karl Rhoads, has scheduled a hearing on three gun control bills.

HB2744 : RELATING TO GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION.
Establishes the gun violence and violent crimes commission. Requires reports to the Legislature. Makes it a class C felony to purchase, manufacture, or otherwise obtain firearm parts for the purpose of assembling a firearm having no serial number.

HB2744 has transitioned from a bill about studying gun violence and become a bill regarding the manufacturing of firearms. Not only is this a violation of the Hawaii state constitution (Article 3, section 14). A ban on manufacturing firearms is unconstitutional per the second amendment, people have a fundamental right to creat arms for self-defense. The possession of a firearm without a serial number is already illegal in the state of Hawaii. A serial number is required to register the firearm, and all firearms should be registered.

As written, the bill would ban the possession and sale of ANY and ALL firearms parts and extremely poorly written and confusing. We have had several lawyers look over the bill, and they have all said the same thing. The law is extremely vague and contradictory.

Instead of banning something that's used by a law-abiding citizen, the wording of the bill should be plainly written and should read as follow.
The use of a firearm without a serial number in crime is a class C felony.
The transfer of a firearm without a serial number is a class C felony.
These two changes alone would have the same effect on the criminal use of these firearms WITHOUT affecting law-abiding gun owners.

HB1902 RELATING TO FIREARMS.
Prohibits the manufacture, possession, sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition of detachable ammunition magazines with a capacity in excess of ten rounds, regardless of the type of firearm with which the magazine is compatible.

HB1902, would make the possession of ANY magazine with more than 10 round illegal to possess to those who don't already have them. Currently, there is a lawsuit with the 9th circuit court of appeal with regard to this matter. WHY the legislators would try and force though this bill this year with so many other things going on, we don't know. Surely they would consult with the attorney general (the states legal team) with regards to this matter. Surely with the state facing a budgetary crisis, they wouldn't want to spend more money defending a lawsuit?

In the matter, we urge the legislators to wait. Let the case before the 9th circuit court of appeals play out. Hawaii does not and has not had a problem with gun crime, with or without magazines that have a higher capacity.

HB 2292 RELATING TO ELECTRIC GUNS.
Repeals the existing law that bans electric guns, and replaces it with a law that restricts the ownership, use, storage, and disposal of electric guns, regulates the sale, distribution, and transfer of electric guns, requires training and education on electric guns, prohibits certain individuals from the possession and use of electric guns, and prohibits the carrying or use of electric guns in the commission of crimes. Establishes permitting requirements to acquire electric projectile guns and registration requirements.

Hawaii's ban on Tasers is likely to be ruled unconstitutional and day. In response to this lawsuit, the Attorney general has told legislators they MUST pass this taser bill. That is, the legislators do not have a choice on if this bill passes or not. In a rush to pass a bill that would make it as restrictive as possible, A bill was drafted that would treat tasers as MORE DANGEROUS then firearms.

Tasers and electric weapons, do not function as seen in movies; they do not render people unconscious or immobile. What they do is buy a person's time, allowing that person to escape and seek help. By making the law as restrictive as it is, it makes much more sense for a person to buy a firearm to defend themselves. When this bill is passed, the process of obtaining and registering a taser is very similar to a firearm, but overall, a firearm is easier and better suited for self-defense.

With Young V Hawaii being heard in September, Open carrying firearms will likely be with us at the beginning of next year. Rendering tasers moot. So WHEN this bill passes, don't buy a taser for $450, buy yourself a Glock19 instead.

Stay tuned for more updates on submitting testimony. ... See more