We are coming down pretty hard on Willie Espero on this PUBLIC forum.
I think he deserves a little credit for engaging the public and admitting the embarrassing fact that he didn't know what was in that RAP BACK bill.

He deserves credit for standing in front of us and lying to our faces that he is not anti gun.  I did see his face tremble a little while he was telling us that nobody wanted to take our guns away.

Totally agree with muffin


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We are coming down pretty hard on Willie Espero on this PUBLIC forum.
I think he deserves a little credit for engaging the public and admitting the embarrassing fact that he didn't know what was in that RAP BACK bill.
In the end we all want the same result. We just disagree on how best to accomplish that.

This is the e-mail i sent him this morning. ( YES I KNOW me English not so good.)


First of all i want to say thank you for handling things the way you did last night, I understand that the issue of gun control can be a very touchy subject as both sides can be very passionate about their beliefs. We in the Gun community are very discouraging when we are not included or ignored when it comes to the gun control issue as ultimately its us these laws effect. Its very disheartening when laws get put in place that when you look at them they sound like great ideas but in reality they only effect those that follow the law and do very little to stop and deter gun crime, We as a community want to be involved in these discussions.


I did mention last night that with the law being signed in to place on Friday that HPD is now violating state law as the system for checking backgrounds and the fees associated with them (from Hawai‘i Criminal Justice Data Center)  Right now HPD is charging the old fees ($14.75  as charged by the FBI) and it is my understating they are still using the old Background check procedures in violation of the new changes made to the law.


Whilst i have your attention many of us in the firearms community are very saddened and worried about the lack of firearms education received by the children of Hawaii, There is no state programs in place with DOE to teach children about firearms safety. Education is the best tool for prevention of accidents and abuse of firearm. Would this be something you wopuld be willing to work with us on getting in the legislators to mandate education and securing funding? If not you would would you suggest and would you be willing to help us work on this ?

He deserves credit for standing in front of us and lying to our faces that he is not anti gun.  I did see his face tremble a little while he was telling us that nobody wanted to take our guns away.

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He deserves very little credit.... But this is a PUBLIC thread and we wouldn't want to OVERLY antagonize the guy.
Keep your comments civil and respectful in this PUBLIC SECTION of the forum.

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He deserves very little credit.... But this is a PUBLIC thread and we wouldn't want to OVERLY antagonize the guy.
Keep your comments civil and respectful in this PUBLIC SECTION of the forum.

He could of gone the other way and just stooped the meeting and/or asked us to leave and/or not give us a chance to speak.  He had the decency to let us have our say and have input on the subject of gun control many senators would not do that.

He deserves credit for standing in front of us and lying to our faces that he is not anti gun.  I did see his face tremble a little while he was telling us that nobody wanted to take our guns away.

Totally agree with what you said.  I saw that tremble too.

While he said that "no one is going after your guns", he clearly believes that it should be regulated.  "We have car registrations and annual inspections every year." were his words.  Someone chimed in and said that unlike car ownership, gun ownership is a constitutional right.

We are coming down pretty hard on Willie Espero on this PUBLIC forum.
I think he deserves a little credit for engaging the public and admitting the embarrassing fact that he didn't know what was in that RAP BACK bill.
In the end we all want the same result. We just disagree on how best to accomplish that.

I'm not sure I want to give any "credit" to a politician who "writes", submits, sponsors, gets committee hearings for, and engineers passage of law that he hasn't read nor understands. No, I am sure. I don't want to give him any credit. At all. Unless it's credit for being a tool, a moron a less-than-satisfactory-intellectually-capable legislator and guilty of violating his oath of office to uphold the constitutions.

Holding in common a desired "result" of less crime is no excuse for him/them passing laws that impact law-abiding citizens by denying them their rights and having no effect whatsoever on crime.

It's certainly an issue of not understanding the in adamant tool. Who was the reseeding hairline badly dressed lawyer guy arguing what would gun people want to see happen? He was sitting to the right next to the sundress lady who feels better she didn't need a gun to protect herself.


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I don't know his babe but he is an anti. I've seen him around the capital before. He likes to make remarks to those sitting next to him.

On a side note, I overheard one of the anti people saying they were surprised so many pro gun people showed up and how educated they were. They seemed baffled.

"How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual... as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of."....Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp  (Suzzana Hupp's parents were killed in the Lubby's Cafeteria shooting in Texas)

I'm not sure I want to give any "credit" to a politician who "writes", submits, sponsors, gets committee hearings for, and engineers passage of law that he hasn't read nor understands. No, I am sure. I don't want to give him any credit. At all. Unless it's credit for being a tool, a moron a less-than-satisfactory-intellectually-capable legislator and guilty of violating his oath of office to uphold the constitutions.

Holding in common a desired "result" of less crime is no excuse for him/them passing laws that impact law-abiding citizens by denying them their rights and having no effect whatsoever on crime.

Agreed. I also don't think we should be easing up on him, or any other politician for that matter. We ought to make everyone aware that these are the kind of people we are putting into elected office. His claim that he didn't understand what RAP BACK was about is him admitting his incompetence and admitting he can't do his job. And if he just said that to ease his guilty conscience and shift blame, then him pushing this bill is deceitful malfeasance. Either way, this is not the kind of person we should have in office.

I'd encourage others to write or call Espero's office and ask for details about his statements. Please share any responses here.

Here's my email:

Senator Espero,

My understanding it that at last nights public meeting in Room 229 you made statements to the effect that you may not have fully understood  the full scope, meaning or consequences of your bill SB2954, now Act 108.

Could you please tell me specifically what it is about the bill that you did not understand and what you intend to do about the (perhaps unintended) consequences for Hawaii's law-abiding firearms owners who may now be subject to being listed in a federal database due their exercising their Second Amendment guaranteed civil right to keep and bear arms, which would be a direct violation of the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) and various other privacy laws?

thank you,

Senator Will Espero Contact Info

Senate District 19
Hawaii State Capitol
Room 206
phone: 808-586-6360
fax: 808-586-6361
senespero@capitol.hawaii.gov

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/memberpage.aspx?member=espero

It's certainly an issue of not understanding the in adamant tool. Who was the reseeding hairline badly dressed lawyer guy arguing what would gun people want to see happen? He was sitting to the right next to the sundress lady who feels better she didn't need a gun to protect herself.


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His name was Marcus L. Landsberg IV

We are coming down pretty hard on Willie Espero on this PUBLIC forum.
I think he deserves a little credit for engaging the public and admitting the embarrassing fact that he didn't know what was in that RAP BACK bill.
In the end we all want the same result. We just disagree on how best to accomplish that.

I'm sorry, but I have a different perspective, based on my prior experience with him over the years. He did not choose to engage "us" rather he tolerated us crashing his little gun control party that stared with an "impromptu"  meeting at a bar (not that I have anything against that per se...) and had no intention of engaging or including "us" in the meeting. He was clearly in defensive mode and simply played the part of a seasoned politician....meaning he lied. He does not want the same result. He wants to create a name for himself and ascend to a higher office and he does not care how he gets there. If he thinks he can use the antigun forces to propel him upward, he will. Please do not be fooled by his words....he is the epitome of the of the crooked politician and the old meme of "How do you know when a politician is lying? His lips are moving."

That's not to say we shouldn't engage him...it just means you shouldn't go into that with unrealistic expectations or pin any hopes on his words.

His name was Marcus L. Landsberg IV

I knew he was a lawyer... Not a very successful one based on his outfit. Oh sorry, was that too brash?


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I don't know his babe but he is an anti. I've seen him around the capital before. He likes to make remarks to those sitting next to him.

On a side note, I overheard one of the anti people saying they were surprised so many pro gun people showed up and how educated they were. They seemed baffled.

If you are referring to one of the teachers that was sitting by the open door, he was not, IMHO after talking to him, "anti-gun." He admitted his ignorance on gun issues and declined any opinion on what we should do to address the "gun violence issue" because he didn't feel informed enough to make that decision. He asked why we were so adamant about not using the terror watch list to restrict gun rights (he truly appeared concerned that we advocated letting terrorists get guns..). After explaining why he understood and agreed that using the lists was not appropriate.

My point, and I don't think you had any malicious intent and were probably just trying to differentiate "us" from "them," is that we need to be careful how we label people. We are not going to change Mr. Rainbow Lei or Ms. You're no Scholar's mind. But, we may be able to influence folks like the teacher....

I knew he was a lawyer... Not a very successful one based on his outfit. Oh sorry, was that too brash?


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He reminded me of Oliver Platt who played a lawyer opposite Matthew McConaughey in "A Time to Kill"

If you are referring to one of the teachers that was sitting by the open door, he was not, IMHO after talking to him, "anti-gun." He admitted his ignorance on gun issues and declined any opinion on what we should do to address the "gun violence issue" because he didn't feel informed enough to make that decision. He asked why we were so adamant about not using the terror watch list to restrict gun rights (he truly appeared concerned that we advocated letting terrorists get guns..). After explaining why he understood and agreed that using the lists was not appropriate.

My point, and I don't think you had any malicious intent and were probably just trying to differentiate "us" from "them," is that we need to be careful how we label people. We are not going to change Mr. Rainbow Lei or Ms. You're no Scholar's mind. But, we may be able to influence folks like the teacher....

I was talking about the lawyer that's anti.
Some of them did seem honesty mis informed and probably never shot a firearm in their life or been through the registration process

I knew he was a lawyer... Not a very successful one based on his outfit. Oh sorry, was that too brash?


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I don't know him, but he is a trial lawyer and isn't dumb (I talked to him after the meeting...). I think he leans anti but hard to tell from such a brief meeting. That being said, I don't think anyone should underestimate his abilities at this point. I think he'd be a formidable adversary if he took "their" side....I bet Rick Holcomb and Wolfwood know of him...

I met Espero not too long ago, didn't seem like a bad guy. I do find it completely unacceptable that politicians champion legislation they haven't even read. I believe there should be criminal charges for this. If there is ever a lawsuit, I expect him to be held responsible.

 Was he wearing his silly kangol hat? Haha