STAND. COM. REP. NO. 828

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 893

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 893 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Beginning July 8, 2024, prohibit:

(A) Persons from bringing or causing to be brought into the State assault rifles, assault shotguns, or .50 caliber rifles; and

(B) The sale or transfer of assault rifles, assault shotguns, or .50 caliber rifles in the State to anyone other than authorized individuals;

(2) Amend the prohibition on certain assault weapons to include assault rifles, assault shotguns, and .50 caliber rifles, subject to certain limitations;

(3) Expand the ban on high-capacity detachable magazines to include those magazines designed for or capable of use with any firearm; and

(4) Create exceptions for the acquisition and possession of prohibited firearms and detachable magazines for members of law enforcement and the military.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from a member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; Animal Rights Hawaiʻi; HCANSpeaks!; Church of the Crossroads; Hawaiʻi-American Nurses Association; Hawaiʻi Public Health Association; Gun Owners for Safety; Giffords; Brady; Vet Voice Foundation; Everytown for Gun Safety; Hawaiʻi Chapters of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America; Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the National Rifle Association in Hawaii; Hawaii Rifle Association; Red Letter Industries; Puʻuloa Rifle and Pistol Club; Hawaiian Islands Republican Women; Self Defense Solutions Hawaii; and numerous individuals.

Your Committee finds that this measure would strengthen Hawaii's firearms laws and promote public safety.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the preamble;

(2) Changing the start date of the prohibition on assault rifles, assault shotguns, and .50 caliber rifles to July 8, 2025;

(3) Amending the storage requirements for when an authorized person possesses an assault rifle, assault shotgun, or .50 caliber rifle while traveling to or from certain authorized locations;

(4) Deleting language that would have created exceptions for the acquisition and possession of prohibited firearms and detachable magazines for members of law enforcement and the military, since existing law already provides an exception;

(5) Inserting a severability clause; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 893, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 893, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair