Honolulu, Hawaii – Local gun rights group Hawaii Firearms Coalition in an attempt to seek clarification on the State of Hawaii's use of the FBI Rap Back service submitted a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents under the control of the FBI. The FBI failed to respond to the request in the legally allotted time.
In 2016, Governor Ige signed SB 2954 into law. The law authorizes people who register firearms in Hawaii to be entered in the FBI’s Rap Back service database. People who register firearms in the county where they live will have their fingerprints retained and entered into the Rap Back service.
Per the FBI, “The Rap Back service allows authorized agencies to receive notification of activity on individuals who hold positions of trust (e.g. school teachers, daycare workers) or who are under criminal justice supervision or investigation, thus eliminating the need for repeated background checks on a person from the same applicant agency. “ “The fingerprints enrolled in the Rap Back Service are continuously searched by and against criminal (including latent) and non-criminal justice fingerprints subsequently submitted to NGI.”
It was brought to Hawaii Firearms Coalition's attention during this year's legislative session that not one single firearms owner has been entered into the service. However, for more than two years, the state has been requiring firearm owners to sign a wavier (of their constitutional rights) and collect the fees associated with the FBI Rap Back service.
Hawaii Firearms Coalition is seeking clarification from the FBI over the state's attempted use of the service. To do so, they requested copies of all communications and policies shared between the state and the FBI regarding Rap Back and the state's use of it for firearms owners. Additionally, they requested copies of any and all receipts for payments from the state to the FBI in relation to firearms and the Rap Back service.
Federal law requires that the FBI respond to all FOIA requests within 20 days of submission. The FBI has, in this case, failed to respond. Thus, on behalf of the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, Stephen D. Stamboulieh, Attorney at Law, filed to sue the FBI in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Hawaii Firearms Coalition is hoping to show Hawaii's attempted use of the Rap Back service for firearms owners: 1)violates the FBI's policy's regarding the Rap Back service, 2) violates federal laws, 3) infringed on the constitutional rights of firearms owners, and 4) the FBI is denying the state's use of the Rap Back service due to these attempted violations.
The State of Hawaii needs to stop treating the Second Amendment like a second class right and start treating those that own or wish to own firearms as the law abiding people that they are.
Hawaii Firearms Coalition is a 501(c)(4) organization, founded to protect and unify Hawaii’s firearms owners and those that believe in the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
Links :
https://hifico.org/ https://hifico.org/foia-complaint/ https://www.fbi.gov/…/cjis/fingerprints-and-other-biome…/ngi
https://www.fbi.gov/file-…/pia-ngi-rap-back-service.pdf/view