I live on the mainland, but my son lives in Honolulu, hence my question.  Sorry if I am long winded.

I built him an AR soon after he came home from Iraq in 2008.  A couple of years later he transferred to Hawaii and took the rifle with him.  He had no idea about local laws, and did not unpack, or even think about his AR for a couple of years.  Of course ne missed the deadline for local registration.

I've advised him to take off the upper and as many of the parts from the lower receiver and ship those parts back to me.  I can then rebuild them on a new receiver and save the gun for when he moves back home.

The question is, what should he do with the old lower.  Can he turn it in to the HPD and not be charged for having it in the first place?  Destroy it?  What are his options?

Also, if it has not been registered, is it still possible to take the whole rifle to an FFL and have it shipped to my local FFL?

What do you advise?

Thanks!

There have been some who forgot to register and HPD was ok with it.  Just stories that I've heard.

I've witnessed while I was in line at HPD to register, many people bring firearms from the mainland and when going to HPD to register they just say "out of state".  HPD has never asked them for supporting documentation of when they arrived.  Some never even asked when they flew in, but a few did and the response was "a few days ago".  But all did have to enroll in RAPBACK.  Again this is what I have witnessed, and cannot speak on the behalf of all officers at registration.

Hope this helps.

I'm not a lawyer.
Since you built the rifle, it is yours, since your son doesn't seem to want it
anymore just have him mail it  via USPS back to you. 
It is legal to mail unloaded long guns.  Disassemble it and ship it in two boxes
if it makes you feel better.
There is no transfer of ownership involved.  I'm assuming you did not serialize
the gun so you can't register it anyway.
I would not get ANY Hawaii cops involved.  Never talk to Cops, unless
you are forced to. 

I’ve registered guns from out of state on several occasions, most recently in January of this year. They don’t ask when you arrived. Register it and get legal. Check the hpd website for what you are required to bring.

What you described is pretty common.  For both military and folks moving to Hawaii not being aware of Hawaii's laws.  One thing to add is that if he's living on a military installation, recommend he check with the installation.  Many have specific rules for .mil folks living on base with private firearms.  Schofield and Shafter required registration with the Provost Marshall's office.  Or at least they did a couple of year ago.  IIRC, need proof of registration of the firearm per Hawaii's laws.  I believe Marine Corps Base Hawaii (Kaneohe) had similar rules for registering personal firearms. 

What kind of AR did you build him? 

If I had a nickle for all the people who told me "I registered the 22lr, but I did not register the nice rifle I got as a family heirloom because they dont need to know about that"  I'd have like a buck 25.

I wouldnt recommend or encourage breaking an (unconstitutional) law, just saying that at least on the Big Island, it is still the wild wild far west here.

You can mail the firearm to yourself so have him address it from yourself to yourself. Not sure if you have to separate the upper and lower unless you want to minimize loss in case the package is lost.

12.2 Rifles and Shotguns

[Revise renumbered 12.2 as follows:]

Except under 12.1.1d and 12.1.2, unloaded rifles and shot­guns are mailable. Mailers must comply with the rules and regulations under 27 CFR, Part 478, as well as state and local laws. The mailer may be required by the USPS to establish, by opening the parcel or by written certification, that the rifle or shotgun is unloaded and not ineligible for mailing under 12.1.1d. The following conditions also apply:

a. Subject to state, territory, or district regulations, rifles and shotguns may be mailed without restriction when sent within the same state of mailing. These items must bear a “Return Service Requested” endorsement, and must be sent by Express Mail (“signature required” must be used at delivery) or Registered Mail, or must in­clude either insured mail service (for more than $200) requiring a signature at delivery.

b. A shotgun or rifle owned by a non-FFL may be mailed outside the owner’s state of residence by the owner to himself or herself, in care of another person in the state, where he or she intends to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity. These mailpieces must:

1. Be addressed to the owner.

2. Include the “in the care of” endorsement immedi­ately preceding the name of the applicable tem­porary custodian.

3. Be opened by the rifle or shotgun owner only.

4. Be mailed using services described in 12.2a.

c. Rifles and shotguns may be mailed by a non-FFL owner domestically to a FFL dealer, manufacturer, or importer in any state. USPS recommends these items be mailed using those services described in 12.2a.

d. Except as described in 12.1.2a, licensed curio and relic collectors may mail firearms meeting the defini­tion of curios or relics under 27 CFR 478.11 domes­tically to FFL licensed curio and relic collectors in any state. USPS recommends these items be mailed us­ing those services described in 12.2a.

e. Firearms that are certified by the curator of a munic­ipal, state, or federal museum that exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest may be ac­cepted for mailing without restriction.

f. Air guns that do not fall within the definition of firearm under 12.1.1a are mailable. A shipment containing an air gun with a muzzle velocity of 400 or more feet per second (fps) must include an Adult Signature service under 503.8.0. Mailers must additionally comply with all applicable state and local regulations.

If I had a nickle for all the people who told me "I registered the 22lr, but I did not register the nice rifle I got as a family heirloom because they dont need to know about that"  I'd have like a buck 25.

I wouldnt recommend or encourage breaking an (unconstitutional) law, just saying that at least on the Big Island, it is still the wild wild far west here.

At least get it right,
Not the wild west, it is old Hawaii ranchers,  we have Paniolo's,
and locals.   We have about as much in common with Oahu people
as we have with San Francisco liberals.

The worst that will happen is he may get some scoldings from the police.