STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1676

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 995

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 995 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS REPORTING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the annual reporting requirements imposed on the Department of the Attorney General and the chief of police of each county regarding licenses to carry firearms.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Honolulu Police Department.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaiian Islands Republican Women and two individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that existing law requires the Department of the Attorney General and the chief of police of each county to publish annual reports concerning licenses to carry firearms.  Your Committee further finds that accurate and timely reporting on firearms licensing is critical for public safety planning and policy development and is of immense value to policymakers, researchers, educators, and the public interested in laws regulating the ownership or use of firearms.  This measure will extend the timeline for data submission, thereby allowing the Department of the Attorney General and the county police departments to compile more accurate and complete information regarding firearms licenses and ensuring that annual reports contain more comprehensive data categorized by age, gender, race, and county, including detailed information on license denials and revocations.

 

     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. 995, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair