NICS - Can be done while you wait at the shop, no need to involve HPD at all or tie up their resources that could be better allocated to say, fighting/solving/investigating actual crime.

Agreed lets repeal stupid rapback.  Which would be a pre-requisite to this.

NICS - Can be done while you wait at the shop, no need to involve HPD at all or tie up their resources that could be better allocated to say, fighting/solving/investigating actual crime.

That would be fine if HPD only ran NICS checks.  They check your doctor, the Hawaii Health Department, the Hawaii criminal database, etc.  Would anyone outside of HPD have access to do all of that?  Would we want LGS workers to have that kind of access to personal info?  With NICS, all they see is a yes or no from the FBI.

Also, the 2 week wait is supposedly needed to run all of those checks and follow up with the applicant if there are questions (needs a mental health clearance letter, court records need corrections, ...).  The 3-day NICS check time limit would not be adequate if all the same agencies are contacted.

Then there is the finger printing.  At least your first application in this state would require a PD visit to do that.

The whole process is far beyond a NICS background check. Lawmakers have locked-in the county PDs as the sole provider for permit processing.

What about private sales?  Would HPD still do those permits?  What about Long gun permits being issued without a pending purchase?


As for registration, having the gun shops do that only works for the guns they sell.  Private purchases would have to be handled somewhere, too, and the LGS isn't going to do it for free. 

Plus, as an FFL (Federal Firearms Licensee), having them generate a registration for guns might violate the prohibition against the federal firearms registry.  I'm sure if the system resides with the state, and the FFL is only inputting data, it might slide.

At this point, the whole permit application, background check and registration process would have to be overhauled to accommodate LGS doing them, and the private sales would have to be rolled up into it as well.

It's a can of worms .... figuratively speaking.   

In working with with the current registration system IMO, HPD sould issue Permits like a drivers license card good for a few years and the Gun shops and FFL's should be able to do the NICS and HPD (to check if Permit is still valid or invalid due to criminal activity, etc)  background checks and send the information (with photo of serial number and permit number) to HPD.  It would take the load off of HPD .  Then just have private sales go through HPD and they can do the background checks on the private buyer and there will be no need for appointments.

The ideal system is no HPD registration and handle it like some of the other states.   Go to the gun shop fill out the form and they run a NICS check and you walk out with your firearm after being cleared.   Like the way I purchased my shotgun and Henry 45-70 rifle  when I visited my sister in law up in Wisconsin last year.

The advantage of a ID license would be that it would have a picture so identity can be confirmed. If you privately sell to someone you have no way of knowing whether the buyer is who he says he is. Plus my idea would be to have an ID number and the buyer could call HPD and HPD could simply confirm the ID number is still valid. This would protect honest sellers from being tricked and it would also allow for a permit that lasts longer since if someone becomes no longer allowed to own a firearm, the department can simply invalidate the ID number.

I contacted my representatives and they didn't seem thrilled by it. They stated I would need testimony from groups who would say there was a problem and a better system could be invented.

With the new stupid ghost gun law it would need a change but technically the old laws didn't require you to go in.  Also there needs to be a degree of trust.  If the federal government gives them a FFL license its fairly reasonable they have that level of expertise/trust.  I highly doubt its a complicated thing, filling out a form or database with information.  Private sells would have to go through HPD or technically it can go through an FFL also.

Technically true, the law doesn't say you have to go to the main police station, but it does say you have to register. I think you should be able to register at any police station. Really sucks for people on the Big Island who have a lot farther to drive (IIRC).

Get down on your knees and beg or you'll be tied to the whipping post.

Get down on your knees and beg or you'll be tied to the whipping post.

Have you been following me on Friday nights?  She said that was my safe space....   

The reason we haven't done a lawsuit is the cost, chance of success, and time frame.  A lawsuit would cost $20 to $40k.  The chance of winning is low.  And as someone mentioned earlier, The gun buying rush could be over before the case is settled.  The money could be better spent on other cases.