Hello, new member here.
Ive got a new problem, I received my first firearm, an old 1970’s Ruger 10/22 from my father in march, he had brought it into Hawaii from Oklahoma after my grandfather had passed. It sat in my closet for 5 months...

In Oklahoma, where my grandfather lived, registering firearms was not a requirement. I wanted to legally posses the firearm, so i recently acquired a “permit to acquire”. Yesterday i went to the police station with the firearm to legally register it and was given a temporary 30day registration paper, they also asked where i received the firearm from and i told them from my father. They gave me some paperwork to send to my dad—who is currently stuck in New Zealand due to covid19 and applying for citizenship, the paperwork will need to get notarized by him to prove he had given me the unregistered firearm and is then to be turned back in to police before the temporary 30 day reg expires. On that paper he will state it was given to me back in March... That was before i even had a legal permit to acquire... Im a little worried about the legal issues this predicament may have started for me now. I was trying to do the right thing and finally register this firearm, but my dad is suggesting i may should just relinquish it to MPD to be destroyed

Its the only thing i have from my deceased grandfather and would be sad to destroy a very nice, old Ruger like this. Does anyone have any experience or advice for me? Thank you for your time.

A couple of buddies of mine went through something similar a while back.  One with a firearm that he acquired as part of an estate sale, and another quite similar to your situation. 

In general, documentation of ownership and when the firearm ownership was "transferred" to you (loose term there) and when the firearm was brought into the state are key.  However, due to COVID, I believe (not an attorney) that that can plausibly explain a number of things in your situation.   

Not sure about MPD, but there were a couple of officers at Honolulu's firearms office that had helpful suggestions.

A couple of buddies of mine went through something similar a while back.  One with a firearm that he acquired as part of an estate sale, and another quite similar to your situation. 

In general, documentation of ownership and when the firearm ownership was "transferred" to you (loose term there) and when the firearm was brought into the state are key.  However, due to COVID, I believe (not an attorney) that that can plausibly explain a number of things in your situation.   

Not sure about MPD, but there were a couple of officers at Honolulu's firearms office that had helpful suggestions.

Thank you for the reply. Fortunately I didnt tell the police the gun was from out of state, as they didnt ask. Im also not sure when it was brought into Hawaii. They seemed to be concerned about where i acquired it from. I told them my dad, so they gave me paperwork to be notarized by him, to prove he is who he says he is. Being that the police gave me my firearm back and a 30 temp reg, im hopeful this will end in my favor. However when they discover that i had received the firearm in March—before i even had a permit, also that the registration is 5 months late, will they charge me with a possible fine and misdemeanor? I hope not, as i travel to and from Japan often and am not sure if that may jeopardize my being able to see family there.

However when they discover that i had received the firearm in March—before i even had a permit, also that the registration is 5 months late, will they charge me with a possible fine and misdemeanor?

While there is no excuse for ignorance of the laws, I know on Oahu, HPD Firearms is pretty forgiving to people trying to do the right thing even if it's five months late. I don't think you should worry.

Thank you for the reply. Fortunately I didnt tell the police the gun was from out of state, as they didnt ask. Im also not sure when it was brought into Hawaii. They seemed to be concerned about where i acquired it from. I told them my dad, so they gave me paperwork to be notarized by him, to prove he is who he says he is. Being that the police gave me my firearm back and a 30 temp reg, im hopeful this will end in my favor.

Sounds like you're on the right track (and getting "things") here.

However when they discover that i had received the firearm in March—before i even had a permit, also that the registration is 5 months late, will they charge me with a possible fine and misdemeanor? I hope not, as i travel to and from Japan often and am not sure if that may jeopardize my being able to see family there.

In general, cross that bridge if you get to that one.  Again, we're in unusual times.  5 months ago, it was practically impossible to register firearms, and to a certain extent still is.  Not an "official" excuse nor am I telling you are good-to-go, but I don't know when you acquired those firearms as you said previously, registration isn't a thing where the firearm came from.   

I know where you're coming from as I used to be in same (or sounds like similar) situation for work.  I had inherited one of my dad's revolvers (there's a thread on it somewhere) and HPD couldn't find the registration in the system when I went to transfer to me the first time.  Long story short, had to be careful of the official ownership of the firearm until that was settled. 

Anyways, good luck. 

Thank you for the reply. Fortunately I didnt tell the police the gun was from out of state, as they didnt ask. Im also not sure when it was brought into Hawaii. They seemed to be concerned about where i acquired it from. I told them my dad, so they gave me paperwork to be notarized by him, to prove he is who he says he is. Being that the police gave me my firearm back and a 30 temp reg, im hopeful this will end in my favor. However when they discover that i had received the firearm in March—before i even had a permit, also that the registration is 5 months late, will they charge me with a possible fine and misdemeanor? I hope not, as i travel to and from Japan often and am not sure if that may jeopardize my being able to see family there.

Wouldn't it have been less fubar if o.p said it was from out of state if oklahoma has no registration? Like if somebody brought over a gun from clark county in Vegas where no more reg and often times private sales no more paper work. Don't hpd just run your background if that's the case? As for having the gun for 5 months
I never heard them ask for see a plane ticket. I always thought registering out of state firearms was easier?

While there is no excuse for ignorance of the laws, I know on Oahu, HPD Firearms is pretty forgiving to people trying to do the right thing even if it's five months late. I don't think you should worry.

You are wise beyond your dog-years. 

I never heard them ask for see a plane ticket. I always thought registering out of state firearms was easier?

When I moved back in 2004, was super easy.  I think like 5 mins to fill out form and don't remember a line.  I took a month off when I moved back, so not like I was in a rush either way. 

For military, I have witnessed asking for when they arrived on island.  However, I think many (if not most) have to wait until their firearms "catch up to them".  I've heard 2-3 months, or more, after they first arrived on island.  I know some friends who PCS'ed to Japan and their container arrived like 3 months later.  That's a while to be living out of suitcases.   

Thank you for the replies everyone. I guess the best i can do is get the transfer paperwork, go to the police station, wear a nice aloha shirt and be polite, hope they will be lenient!

Thank you for the replies everyone. I guess the best i can do is get the transfer paperwork, go to the police station, wear a nice aloha shirt, bring a dozen malasadas and be polite, hope they will be lenient!

 

 

 

 

wear a nice aloha shirt, bring a dozen malasadas and be polite, hope they will be lenient!

============
works every time
I just had a mahalo malasada from pipeline last night. The box said thank you on it from somebody named amber.
I don't even know why! Somebody did something good and earned a dozen malasadas

A follow-up to this thread. Just got back from the local police station, turned in my transfer paperwork and got my firearms registration updated for the Ruger. The lady that took care of it didn’t even say a word about the March receiving date. No problems what-so-ever... I even wore the nice aloha shirt and everything! 🙄 Oh well.
Big mahalos again everybody! 🤙🤙

Good to hear you got that resolved easily.  The guys at firearms section are usually cool though sometimes you have a jerk working there.  Sometimes you'll get some scoldings for registering late but that's it   Usually the worse that happens is they'll take the firearm until you can fix whatever needs fixing.

It's the Major and Chief that we got the problems with.

A follow-up to this thread. Just got back from the local police station, turned in my transfer paperwork and got my firearms registration updated for the Ruger. The lady that took care of it didn’t even say a word about the March receiving date. No problems what-so-ever... I even wore the nice aloha shirt and everything! 🙄 Oh well.
Big mahalos again everybody! 🤙🤙

Good deal!   

Let us know how it shoots! 

Yea the firearms crew are actually really cool guys. Just be honest with them and they will do what they can to help you out because it wasn’t your fault and you have no knowledge about it. Laws are strict, things have changed a lot, but this is not due to the hpd crew. It’s the politicians, who are trying to enforce all these bills and laws and the hpd has to follow it.