STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3891

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2075

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2075, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Increase the time frame that a permit to acquire a firearm can be used to thirty days; and

(2) Eliminate physical inspection of firearms generally, except under certain circumstances.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu Police Department, and Hawai‘i Police Department. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, Pu‘uloa Rifle and Pistol Club, and twelve individuals.

Your Committee finds that in Yukutake v. Connors, the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii held that the requirement in section 134-2(e), Hawaii Revised Statutes, that a permit to acquire a handgun be used within ten days of issuance of the permit, and the requirement in section 134-3(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, that firearms be physically inspected at the time of registration are both unconstitutional. Your Committee further finds that the State has a substantial interest in public safety, and accurate information protects public safety both by preventing people who are disqualified from owning firearms from acquiring them and by facilitating the tracing of firearms. Your Committee believes that the correlation between strong permitting laws and the reduction of gun violence supports imposing a reasonable expiration date on firearm permits. This measure will help Hawai‘i's firearm permitting laws survive legal challenges while continuing to protect public safety by increasing the time frame that a permit to acquire can be used to thirty days and eliminating the physical inspection of firearms generally, except under certain circumstances.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 30, 2075, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2075, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2075, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair