STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1558

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2019

RE: S.B. No. 621

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety, Veterans, & Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 621, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the reporting of lost, stolen, or destroyed firearms to county police and establish penalties for failure to report.

Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i, Honolulu Police Department, and a concerned individual supported this measure. Hawaii Firearms Coalition, National Rifle Association of America, Hunting Farming and Fishing Association, Hawaii Rifle Association, Institute for Rational and Evidence-Based Legislation, and many concerned individuals opposed this measure.

Your Committee notes that Act 108, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, authorized the county police departments to enroll firearms applicants and registrants into the Rap Back system, a Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal record monitoring service used to alert police when an owner of a firearm is arrested for a criminal offense anywhere in the country. While the bulk of the functionality of the Rap Back system, including subscriptions and notification service for user departments, is targeted to be implemented in June 2019, full firearms implementation of the Rap Back system in Hawaii is still pending and awaiting further legal guidance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of the Attorney General. Therefore, your Committee has amended this measure to suspend the collection of any fee related to the Rap Back system from firearms permit applicants and registrants through the county police departments until the Rap Back system is fully implemented in Hawaii.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Extending the time required for a person to report to county police upon the person's discovery of the loss, theft, or destruction of a firearm from twenty-four hours to forty-eight hours;

(2) Clarifying that a person reporting the loss, theft, or destruction of a firearm shall report to the best of the person's knowledge accurate and factual information on the firearm to the county police department;

(3) Clarifying that no person shall be in violation of reporting requirements if the person makes a good faith effort to comply with the requirements;

(4) Requiring the suspension of any fee related to the Rap Back system for firearms permit applicants and registrants collected through county police departments until the Rap Back system is fully implemented in Hawaii;

(5) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion on this measure; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Veterans, & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 621, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 621, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Veterans, & Military Affairs,

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair