STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1310

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 888

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 888, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Prohibit an intoxicated person from recklessly possessing a loaded firearm; and

     (2)  Establish a petty misdemeanor violation for possession of a loaded firearm while intoxicated.

     Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Hawaii Rifle Association, Lessons in Firearms Education, and one individual.

     Your Committees find that the consumption of alcohol can impair the judgment and physical response of a person in possession of a loaded firearm, thereby decreasing public safety.  Implementation of this measure will increase public safety by prohibiting the possession and discharge of a loaded firearm in a public place while a person is intoxicated.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting language to prohibit an intoxicated person from recklessly possessing and discharging a loaded firearm in a public place, rather than only prohibiting an intoxicated person from recklessly possessing a loaded firearm;

     (2)  Authorizing law enforcement to administer a breath or blood test to a person that recklessly possesses and discharges a loaded firearm in a public place if the person appears to be intoxicated;

     (3)  Amending the definition of an intoxicated person to mean a person that is under the influence of alcohol or drugs in an amount sufficient to impair the person's normal mental faculties or ability to care for the person and guard against casualty as evidenced by a breath or blood test obtained by a law enforcement officer;

     (4)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 888, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 888, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Judiciary and Labor,

________________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair

________________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair