PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Hawai'i's strict gun laws are unconstitutional :: 06/16/2015
On May 29, the Texas state legislature approved a bill allowing the open carry of firearms for anyone with a concealed carry permit. Meanwhile in Hawai‘i, the future of gun laws is still uncertain. In March 2014, Hawai‘i’s May-Issue gun laws were deemed unconstitutional by the 9th Circuit Court. Currently, however, the law remains in effect while the ruling is appealed.
No one wants to see Hawai‘i go to the extremes of the new Texas bill, but the circuit court ruling should stand. New legislature based on it would put Hawai‘i gun law at the sweet spot of adherence to the constitution and safety. As the state moves forward with the appeal process and, hopefully, drafts new laws, it should keep safety and constitutionality in the forefront.
At the risk of sounding reactionary, the Second Amendment designates that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” without stipulating, “if local officials think it’s okay.” In Hawai‘i, they almost never think it’s okay: in 2014 there were only 218 permits given and these went to security firms’ personnel. All 21 private concealed carry applicants from last year were denied. In fact, there was only one person allowed such a permit since 2010.
Refusing to issue anyone not associated with a corporation a concealed carry permit infringes on the American right to bear arms. The circuit court’s ruling removes that injustice.
Types of concealed carry laws
There are now three types of concealed carry jurisdictions: Unrestricted, Shall-Issue and May-Issue. The last No-Issue jurisdiction was in the District of Columbia, whose law was successfully challenged on July 26, 2014. Not allowing concealed carry infringes on the Second Amendment, which is why Hawai‘i’s laws have been ruled unconstitutional.
Unrestricted jurisdictions do not require any permit for residents to carry a concealed firearm. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Vermont and Wyoming are the only states with such laws. Some unrestricted states allow their concealed carry permits to be used in other states.
Most states are Shall-Issue. The origin of the name comes from the practice: a permit shall be issued to any applicant who meets predetermined requirements. In most legislatures this encompasses people who have not been convicted of a federal offence and are mentally healthy.
In May-Issue states like Hawai‘i, local law enforcement maintains the right to deny concealed carry permits. This is where it gets fuzzy because individual state regulations can vary greatly in restrictiveness.
Safety vs. constitutionality
In 2014, Hawai‘i had the second lowest firearm related death rate in the nation. This may be because all firearms are required to be registered with the state to keep track of them. The permit to purchase is acquired separately from the permit for concealed carry. In 2014, 94.5 percent of local applicants were issued permits.
States like Mississippi, Louisiana and Alaska, which do not require registration or permits to purchase firearms, have the highest gun related death rates. The 9th District Court ruling does not put Hawai‘i’s impeccable gun related death rate at risk because the laws keeping residents safe will still be in effect.
The only state to have a lower gun death rate than Hawai‘i is Rhode Island, which has the same May-Issue statute. In practice, however, the two states are very different. Rhode Island requires law enforcement to “show a cause” not to issue the concealed carry permit, making it in effect a Shall-Issue state. Hawai‘i is the opposite: our law enforcement requires the applicant to provide proof that they are in danger and that they should be given a permit.
In reality, however, we often don’t know we are in danger until it’s too late. Our May-Issue statute could be reformed to put it within the bound of the Second Amendment using Rhode Island as a model.
At the same time, as Hawai‘i moves forward, we should keep in mind that the precedent set by the circuit court’s ruling may end up dangerous. Undoing any more restrictions for the sake of constitutionality would put lives at risk because universal concealed carry without a permit or registration would make it more difficult for law enforcement to catch criminals.
In addition, it would make it more difficult to identify those who should not have a firearm in the first place. The deregulation should stop with this ruling, which finds a golden mean between safety and constitutionality.
