Hawaii Sucks.

[twoclones]

My girlfriend is bugging me to visit her friends on Maui so I looked at the Hawaii gun laws on USAcarry.com What a screwed up state! Even back in the 1970's my indoctrination class at Pearl Harbor warned us of how bad the crime was and we were told to stay away from the beaches at night because of the racists.

Anyway, in a nutshell here's what's got me worked up this morning. LOL

HI Concealed Permit:
May Issue to Residents only and do not recognize any other state permits.

Issuing Authority:
In an exceptional case, when the applicant shows reason to fear injury to his person or property, the respective chief of police may grant a license to carry a concealed firearm on his person within the county where the license is granted...

Permit Valid For:
Licenses to carry are valid for one year.
No danger lasts more than a year?

Requirements:
1. Show reason to fear injury to his person or property
Does being a Howlie qualify as reason to fear?

Automobile carry:
It is unlawful for any person on any public highway to carry on the person, possess, or to carry in a vehicle any loaded or unloaded firearm without a license to carry.
So only those with a near impossible to get permit to carry concealed can take their gun for a drive? Does that mean you need a concealed carry license to go skeet shooting?

Deadly Force / Castle Doctrine:
Hawaii is a Castle Doctrine state and has a stand-your-ground law.
This is a good thing but seems in conflict with all the rest.

Open Carry:
Prohibited in all public areas.
How does one conceal carry at the beach?

Guess I'll have to carry a pocket full of sand to throw in the bad guy's face while I'm there.

Read More

 

[spengo]

How big of a crime is it if you are caught carrying illegally there? I mean... if it is just a misdemeanor... not that I am SUGGESTING anything, just saying...

 

[gearhead]

How big of a crime is it if you are caught carrying illegally there? I mean... if it is just a misdemeanor... not that I am SUGGESTING anything, just saying...

I can tell you from first hand experience (unfortunately) that in Florida CC w/o a permit is a felony, and OC is a misdemeanor. Sot sure about Hawaii.

here we go.

Reference: HRS 134-6
e) Any person violating subsection (a) or (b) shall be guilty of a class A felony. Any person violating this section by carrying or possessing a loaded firearm or by carrying or possessing a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver without a license issued as provided in section 134-9 shall be guilty of a class B felony. Any person violating this section by carrying or possessing an unloaded firearm, other than a pistol or revolver, shall be guilty of a class C felony.

wow. so much for "Shall not be infringed"

 

[twoclones]

Article 1, Secion 17 state of Hawaii Constitution...

RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

Section 17. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. [Ren Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978]

Yet according to the NRAILA.org gun laws page, one needs a permit to purchase a rifle, shotgun or handgun :huh: The info is from 2006 so may be inaccurate.

<broken link removed>

 

[twoclones]

Section 17 Case Notes
Right to bear arms may be regulated by the State in a reasonable manner. 82 H. 143, 920 P.2d 357.

Reasonable?

 

[spengo]

I can tell you from first hand experience (unfortunately) that in Florida CC w/o a permit is a felony, and OC is a misdemeanor. Sot sure about Hawaii.

here we go.

Reference: HRS 134-6
e) Any person violating subsection (a) or (b) shall be guilty of a class A felony. Any person violating this section by carrying or possessing a loaded firearm or by carrying or possessing a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver without a license issued as provided in section 134-9 shall be guilty of a class B felony. Any person violating this section by carrying or possessing an unloaded firearm, other than a pistol or revolver, shall be guilty of a class C felony.

wow. so much for "Shall not be infringed"

Ouch, that sucks. What are the laws about carrying say... a big fixed blade knife? How about a 400 lumen surefire flashlight with a spiky bezel?

 

[twoclones]

Ouch, that sucks. What are the laws about carrying say... a big fixed blade knife? How about a 400 lumen surefire flashlight with a spiky bezel?

Fixed blade knife? HAHAHA It wasn't too long ago a bill was introduced in Hawaii to outlaw folding knives. Dirk, dagger, butterfly, switchblade, etc all all illegal. A chef's or diver's knife is a different matter...

Hawaii Case Law:
- "'Other deadly or dangerous weapon' is limited to
instruments whose sole design and purpose is to inflict
bodily injury or death... A 'diver's knife' is neither a
'dangerous weapon' nor a 'dagger'. 'Deadly and dangerous
weapon' is one designed primarily as a weapon or diverted
from normal use and prepared for combat... Cane,
butterfly, and kitchen knives are not deadly or dangerous
weapons... Sheathed sword cane and wooden knuckles with
shark's teeth were 'deadly or dangerous weapons..."

 

[pogi]

Never had a problem in Maui, Ohau might be different....

 

[Ranb]

I lived in Hawaii for 12 years. Even dealt in guns with an FFL when living in Navy Housing. This was 90-94 before the state only issued the state dealer's permit to those in business only zones areas The concealed carry permits are only issued at the discretion of the chief of police. I hear only the friends of the police get them. I have never heard of anyone who even knows of anyone who has one.

Bringing guns there is no problem, but they have to be brought to the police station and registered within three days. The registration process is painless, just go to the window and the people there write down the serial number and fill out a form. Whenever I visit, I bring some guns to shoot, but only those that are already registered. Here is some info; <broken link removed>

There is hunting on Hawaii, mostly pigs and goats. I have never seen a pig when armed, most successful pig hunters use dogs as far as I know. There are several rifle ranges, but only one that is public. The one at Kokohead has one of the nicest layouts I have seen. It is privately owned (Bishop Estate) but run by the city. It has pistol, shotgun, rifle and silhouette ranges. No rapid fire and limited to 5 rounds in the mag except for revolvers. Link here; <broken link removed>

Hawaii sucks for gun owners for sure. They ban assault pistols, SBS/SBR, MG, silencers, cannons and pistol mags over ten rounds. The hiking, scuba diving and beaches are nice, but I was glad to leave, even if it was only to the slightly less oppressive Washington.

Ranb

 

[Riot]

You also need the Sheriff's permission to carry Mace.

These laws were one of the leading reasons why I decided to go on a cruise versus Hawaii for our Honeymoon.

 

[Celtic Armory]

I refuse to do business with CA, HI, NJ, NYC and Chicago.

 

[Trlsmn]

You don't need a gun in Hawaii, Dog the bounty hunter will protect you!

Of course you must consider the fact that Dog the bounty hunter is a paroled convicted murderer and that he is anti gun, which is hypocritical as he can't own a gun.

 

[MSol]

As someone who was born in Hawaii, and visits the islands 3-4 times annually for over 40 years, I can say that though there may be the occasional incidence of racism (I lived through many a "Kill-haole" day in public school), the likelihood of you running into violence is slim-to-none. If you read though the last set of police statistics and do the math you will see that out of 3800 or so violent offenses (year of 2008 stats) 24&#37; were committed with weapons (blades / guns) and of those only 28% were committed upon strangers (i.e. tourists). So you are looking at just shy of 3 weapons based violent offenses committed upon tourists for the year of 2008. I have taken and recommended hundreds of people to the islands over the years and all had a great, violence free, time. Yes there are areas you should not stray into in the evenings, or in the day for that matter, but for the most part, the locals take care of the tourists, because without them, no jobs, no money, no fun.

I understand allot of good folks feel naked without a weapon. My advice is go have a good time in Hawaii and enjoy yourself, armed or otherwise. Just the opinion of a fellow gun and Hawaii lover.

 

[Ranb]

My girlfriend is bugging me to visit her friends on Maui so I looked at the Hawaii gun laws on USAcarry.com What a screwed up state! Even back in the 1970's my indoctrination class at Pearl Harbor warned us of how bad the crime was and we were told to stay away from the beaches at night because of the racists.

I think you can really enjoy yourself there. You will need a rental car unless you restrict yourself to the south shore of Oahu. Just keep your rental car empty and do not park it on the beaches on the west shore. I never had a personal problem with crime there at all.

One word of advice. It is better to walk away from a confrontation there. As far as I know, if the police are called to a confrontation involving any kind of assault, they will not leave unless they are taking one of the parties away in handcuffs. This includes domestic disputes.

Hawaii can be a wonderfull place to visit, just get out of Waikiki if you stay on Oahu. Try some of the hikes. The waterfalls are very refreshing. The state closed a few trails in 1999 after the Sacred Falls rockslide that killed several people, but most are still open. The north and west shore beaches on Oahu are nice. I enjoyed Maui and I want to see the Big Island volcanos someday.

Ranb

 

[Reco]

I was born and raised in Hawaii you mind as well for get carrying a firearm there especially if you're not local. Basically the state is setup for police LOE and "friends" of the state government. Locals there will automatically go for the maximum penalty if your caught. Keep a cell phone hand be street smart and hang with friends you should be fine.

 

[spengo]

Fixed blade knife? HAHAHA It wasn't too long ago a bill was introduced in Hawaii to outlaw folding knives. Dirk, dagger, butterfly, switchblade, etc all all illegal. A chef's or diver's knife is a different matter...

Hawaii Case Law:
- "'Other deadly or dangerous weapon' is limited to
instruments whose sole design and purpose is to inflict
bodily injury or death... A 'diver's knife' is neither a
'dangerous weapon' nor a 'dagger'. 'Deadly and dangerous
weapon' is one designed primarily as a weapon or diverted
from normal use and prepared for combat... Cane,
butterfly, and kitchen knives are not deadly or dangerous
weapons... Sheathed sword cane and wooden knuckles with
shark's teeth were 'deadly or dangerous weapons..."

Huh, that's funny, I picked fixed blade cuz they are fastest, often largest, and definitely a good deterrent for anyone looking for trouble. Sounds like it's a good time to get you one of them "diver's knives."

Weird how the deadliest weapons are the ones with the least restrictions, sort of reminds me of the 18-20 pistol ban thread.

 

[raftman]

I've been to Oahu this year... and went unarmed. It really didn't seem all that dangerous if you know where to go and where not to. However, you may leave feeling like you've been robbed even if you don't encounter any crime!

 

[twoclones]

I have been to Oahu, Kauai, and Maui. Probably spent a total of 3 months there all together but the first time was the most exciting. Four of us stepped out of the elevator in our motel then the wife and I walked toward the ocean side for the view. Our friends walked to the street side where from the end of the motel, they saw a man on the street corner walk up to another man and shoot him in the head.

That was pretty shocking and I saw the commotion down there after the shooting. Even more shocking was that we could find no mention at all of the shooting in the next day's newspaper.

Most of my visits there were as a reservist attached to Sub Base Pearl. Someone from my unit ALWAYS got robbed during our 2 week tour.

No matter if crime is rampant or non-existent, Hawaii still sucks for their distortion of ...shall not be infringed.

 

[Ranb]

Wow, that is something else! 180 out from my experiences. I may be living a sheltered life.

Ranb

 

[jankun]

So I can't take an asp in checked luggage as it is illegal to carry? Can I buy mace in HI to provide provide protection to my family? I can't take and legally carry my handgun from WA?

What is the flashlight to carry?

Thx

Ps. Go to Maui. It's more romantic and doesn't have the crime like Honolulu.