Does anyone have a link to the definitions that HPD is using to classify a "Handgun" or "Long Gun", and is it different than the criteria on a 4473?

Thanks,
tJ

I assume this is related to HPD trying to register a receiver as a "Rifle Receiver?"

HPD doesn't get to write the laws. What they actually use for their policies is debatable.

According to HRS 134 definitions:

"Pistol" or "revolver" means any firearm of any shape with a barrel less than sixteen inches in length and capable of discharging loaded ammunition or any noxious gas.

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0134/HRS_0134-0001.htm

And here is a not-all-inclusive list of things you can't have:

§134-8  Ownership, etc., of automatic firearms, silencers, etc., prohibited; penalties.  (a)  The manufacture, possession, sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition of any of the following is prohibited:  assault pistols, except as provided by section 134-4(e); automatic firearms; rifles with barrel lengths less than sixteen inches; shotguns with barrel lengths less than eighteen inches; cannons; mufflers, silencers, or devices for deadening or muffling the sound of discharged firearms; hand grenades, dynamite, blasting caps, bombs, or bombshells, or other explosives; or any type of ammunition or any projectile component thereof coated with teflon or any other similar coating designed primarily to enhance its capability to penetrate metal or pierce protective armor; and any type of ammunition or any projectile component thereof designed or intended to explode or segment upon impact with its target.

     (b)  Any person who installs, removes, or alters a firearm part with the intent to convert the firearm to an automatic firearm shall be deemed to have manufactured an automatic firearm in violation of subsection (a).

     (c)  The manufacture, possession, sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition of detachable ammunition magazines with a capacity in excess of ten rounds which are designed for or capable of use with a pistol is prohibited.  This subsection shall not apply to magazines originally designed to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition which have been modified to accept no more than ten rounds and which are not capable of being readily restored to a capacity of more than ten rounds.

     (d)  Any person violating subsection (a) or (b) shall be guilty of a class C felony and shall be imprisoned for a term of five years without probation.  Any person violating subsection (c) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor except when a detachable magazine prohibited under this section is possessed while inserted into a pistol in which case the person shall be guilty of a class C felony. [L 1988, c 275, pt of §2; am L 1989, c 261, §6 and c 263, §4; am L 1992, c 286, §§3, 4]

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0134/HRS_0134-0008.htm

So, by default, the definition of long gun is a firearm that is not a pistol or revolver.  The designation for a specific firearm is based officially on the ATF Form 4473, which the FFL should base on the factory nomenclature when filling it out.

Maybe the way to get around their ploy is to slap a pistol upper on the lower, disable the gas system so it's not semi-auto (bolt action only), and register as a pistol?  Not installing the gas tube will avoid having to epoxy or weld the mag into the mag well.

The reason I say register as a pistol is it's legal to put a rifle upper on a designated pistol lower, but illegal to put a pistol upper on a designated long gun/rifle lower.  The illegal combo is a defacto SBR.

In this situation, "6 in 1" does not equal "half a dozen in the other!"    

I was looking at a registration paper from last year. I registered 3 lowers at the same time. at the top where can only list 1 firearm, they list 1 lower as receiver only.  at bottom where they can list multiple firearms, they list the same lower and the rest of the lowers as rifle receiver only.
at the time I thought nothing of it. 

I've also seen people at the range shooting an AR pistol time to time, then when they go to reload they just press the mag release and presto, its not welded or fixed to the receiver.  some of them shoot it pretty good too, must have been practicing with it for a while   

I was looking at a registration paper from last year. I registered 3 lowers at the same time. at the top where can only list 1 firearm, they list 1 lower as receiver only.  at bottom where they can list multiple firearms, they list the same lower and the rest of the lowers as rifle receiver only.
at the time I thought nothing of it. 

I've also seen people at the range shooting an AR pistol time to time, then when they go to reload they just press the mag release and presto, its not welded or fixed to the receiver.  some of them shoot it pretty good too, must have been practicing with it for a while   

I've not done this, but from reading others' posts, I think the real deciding factor may be the permit you used to acquire it.  If you failed to get a pistol permit, but used your long gun permit instead, then it's a long gun/rifle receiver.  To get a pistol receiver, you have to apply for and present a pistol permit when acquiring it.

I might be wrong, but it makes about as much sense as anything else.   

Also:
 §134-1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise:

     "Acquire" means gain ownership of.

     "Antique pistol or revolver" means any pistol or revolver manufactured before 1899 and any replica thereof if it either is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition or is designed or redesigned to use rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition that is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.

     "Assault pistol" means a semiautomatic pistol that accepts a detachable magazine and has two or more of the following characteristics:

     (1)  An ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;

     (2)  A threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward hand grip, or silencer;

     (3)  A shroud that is attached to or partially or completely encircles the barrel and permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the second hand without being burned;

     (4)  A manufactured weight of fifty ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded;

     (5)  A centerfire pistol with an overall length of twelve inches or more; or

     (6)  It is a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm;

Thanks, I was looking through the registrations I have, and they didn't match the three types listed on the 4473 (Handgun, Long Gun, Other Firearm)

I have:

Pistol
Pistol Receiver
Rifle
Rifle Receiver
Receiver

Thanks, I was looking through the registrations I have, and they didn't match the three types listed on the 4473 (Handgun, Long Gun, Other Firearm)

I have:

Pistol
Pistol Receiver
Rifle
Rifle Receiver
Receiver

Sometime between getting my first gun in HI (2012) and a few years ago, the ATF added "frame or receiver" to the "other" category.  The current online form at the ATF site shows a revision date of October 2016.  Adding the "marijuana use" warning was part of the 2016 revision, I know.

Prior to that, FFLs had to mark Long Gun or Handgun for receivers -- no category existed that called out "receiver".

Since the FFL only fills out one 4473 per transaction, they'll check as many boxes as appropriate for the firearms in that purchase.  So, even now, you might get the boxes "Long Gun" and "Other" checked if you buy an AR15 and a stripped AR receiver at the same time.

As I do some research:

The 2005 form only had Handgun, Long Gun and Both.   So, if the FFL checked the box next to "Rifle" -- because an AR receiver is built as a rifle in most cases -- you could not make it into a pistol.  Now -- the "Other" box is all they need to check for a receiver-only transfer.

https://www.ocshooters.com/Gen/Form-4473/ATF-Form-4473.htm

This article is about AOWs, but it details the classification issue quite well.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/10/18/aow/