In years past every year former Senator Slom would introduce a "shall issue" CCW licensing bill. Every year it would not get a hearing in any committee it was assigned to. I would write every legislator and ask them to tell me what is it they know about the citizens of Hawaii that makes them more irresponsible and dangerous than the citizens of all other states that have "shall issue" or "permitless" carry laws and have no problems at all due to those laws, and the fact that statistics from those states indicate that not only are those license/permit holders far more law-abiding that the rest of the "ordinary" citizens, but they are far more law-abiding than cops. I never got a response from even one single legislator. I didn't bother to inquire this year. But here is a story from Minnesota (as with all other issuing states) that at least disproves the "more guns equals more crime" fallacy (lie?) proffered endlessly by the various civilian disarmament astroturf groups.

Note: the general "permits" referenced are permits to purchase/transfer a handgun required by Minnesota law. There is no permit required for long guns. And no registration. Also note that the estimated rate of gun ownership is 36.7%, compared to Hawaii's 6.7% (lowest in U.S. and only half the next lowest state New Jersey).

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/02/15/reality-check-gun-permit-background-checks/ (includes video version of story)

More Minnesotans Own Guns, Violent Crime Remains Low

Minnesota set a record last year for the number of gun background checks the FBI conducted in the state.

More people are carrying guns than ever before, but the crime rate remains relatively low. WCCO’s Pat Kessler is looking at the numbers, and giving them a Reality Check.

We took a hard look at the numbers, and found: Minnesota has a high rate of gun ownership, and a relatively low rate of violent crime.

Minnesota’s violent crime rate hit a 50-year low in 2016, according to the FBI.

And in 2017, the state set a new record for firearms background checks.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System reports it processed nearly 683,544 checks on gun buyers in 2017. That includes: 473,975 permits, 94,383 handguns and 125,516 long guns.

Minnesota set another 2017 record, too.

The State Department of Public Safety reports 283,188 Minnesotans now have permits to legally carry firearms in public.

In 2017, the state issued 57,651 permits to carry a weapon in public. That’s down from a record 71,156 permits issued in 2016.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about guns in Minnesota. An estimated 36.7 percent of Minnesotans own at least one firearm.