Hawaii Rifle Association
State Affiliate of the National Rifle Association - Founded in 1857
March 30, 2016
At today's meeting of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor, three of the four bad gun bills were passed and the fourth was deferred. The legislators are slowly starting to hear the gun owners. To those of you who took the time to contact your Senator and Representative, we thank you for your efforts. However, it's still not over and we still need to get more gun owners involved and fight to maintain our rights. REMEMBER, it's much easier to fight for the rights you have than to fight to get them back after they've been taken away. Look at the 10-round magazine limit for handguns. We lost that fight and we HAVEN'T been able to get it back. The bills will now move to conference committee for voting.
We're running out of time. We need to kill ALL five anti-gun bills from further movement. So, please contact your district Representative and Senator. If you aren't sure who that is, go to:
www.capitol.hawaii.gov and on the upper right of the page, enter your street name where it says "Find your legislator". THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR and they need to know that you vote and you are watching how they vote on bills affecting your Second Amendment rights. Be sure to identify your district and provide your first and last name in all correspondence with your legislators.
The bills are:
HB 625, HD1 - Misdemeanor Stalking and harrassment (includes unwanted text messages, calls, and emails) permanently disqualifies ownership, possession, or control of a firearm. Takes a Governor's pardon to restore.
HB 2629, HD2 - Enrolls firearm applicants in a federal Rap Back system at the cost of the firearm applicant (no other state uses this permanent database for firearms owners). Unlawful under federal law.
HB 2632, HD2, SD1 - Requires the Chief of Police to seize firearms from any person who had an emergency hospitalization for significant behavioral, emotional, or mental disorder, without a court order (no diagnosis necessary and could include diabetic shock).
The following bills were deferred, but there still remains the possibility they could be resurrected....especially if Representative Rhoads has a say in it:
HB 626, HD 1 - Consumption of any alcohol (no quantification identified) while in possession of a firearm is a misdemeanor.
HB 1813, HD1 - Disqualifies you from possession of guns or ammunition if your name appears on the federal Terrorist Watch NO-FLY List (a list which the federal auditor found is unreliable and no one knows how you are placed on the list and getting off the list is next to impossible). Error rate of 38% acknowleged.
MAHALO
HARVEY GERWIG, LEGISLATIVE LIAISON and PRESIDENT, HRA
EMAIL: HGHAWAII@GMAIL.COM, PHONE: (808) 306-7194