Hmmm, this is strange. I read the article and went to go look for the original source. It looks like the original article printed by the NRA-ILA is from January of last year. Of course this bill is still active but no action has happened yet this session.

For those that don't know the bill, it is House Bill 88.

Requires all ammunition of a specified caliber manufactured or sold in Hawaii that is capable of use in handguns, including assault pistols, to be coded to assist law enforcement in identifying and prosecuting gun crime offenders. Requires Attorney General to establish a statewide database to track coded ammunition.

Here you can keep track of the bill status:
http://capitol.hawaii.gov/session2010/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=88

What a stupid bill.  While we're at it we should encode every book of matches with a barcode so when arsonists strike we'll have a better chance at catching them as well.  Heck why not encode every kitchen knife and baseball bat.  Heaven forbid somebody use one of those for a crime to kill someone.   

Actually, there are a couple of ways this bill could work ro the advantage of a clever criminal.

I could, for example, swipe a few rounds from a random shooter's ammo box at Kokohead, then use those cartridges in the commission of a crime. 

I could also use slight-of-hand to plant a few reloads in someones range bag, then call in an anonymous tip the the police that said person had unregistered ammo in their possession.

I could disassemble my ammo then pay a black market laser artist to change the numbers.  With a little networking, I could probably learn the range of numbers reserved for HPD and use those, framing officers for vigilantism. 

In each case, this new technology would provide concrete proof that the party was guilty.  Sounds like a good system to me!

I wonder what would happen if some of these lawmakers had something like that happen 

This bill is a "hold over" from the last session and could be called into committee at any time...there is also three other bills that were heldo over or deferred: .50 caliber ban, gun confiscation in an emergency/disaster, and the "Castle Doctrine"

What we have discovered is that the leg is giving very little notice about bills being heard in the various committees...so, should anyone be interested in submitting testimony should have it ready to go. Don't wait until you get the notice about the bill being heard and then decide to write something up...HRA will be trying to get it's e-mail notification system up and running again, and when it is, you can sign up for notifications about the respective hearings.

Just to echo what HiCarry was saying, at the HRA board meeting last night, the head of the Legislative Committee shared that public announcements of hearings were being issued with as little as 36 hours warning.  Keep in in mind that your testimony has to be received 24 hours in advance of the hearing.  That means a whopping 12 hours between the moment they announce the date of the hearing and the moment it's too late for you to submit your testimony!  Although anecdotal evidence suggests that testimony submitted via the web does get included even when submitted after the deadline.

On the up side, it seems that (at least so far) no one is pushing the anti-gun agenda very hard this year.  Much more interest in fireworks, civil unions, and money.  That doesn't mean we're in the clear, nor does it mean that there might not be some gun-friendly bills yet to appear.

Anything that comes to HRA's attention, HiCarry and I will post here as expediently as we can.  If any of you come across something that you think the gun community needs to know about, do the same! 

I've added SB532, SB1175, and HB412 to the status updates. Are there any others we should be looking at?

It looks like SB532 and SB1175 are almost the same and the HRA supported SB1175 from the start but SB532 got further through congress. How do you feel about each one? Is there one that we shouldn't support?

Hey 2a, in the State Legislative Updates subform can you add the report title into the thread title as well, something like this:

"SB358 Status Feed: Prohibition Against Seizure During Emergency"

That way it'll make the threads easier to sort through as they become more numerous.  Thanks.

Great idea. I've updated all the tread titles to match.

Thanks 2a.