Doesn't matter, the law is the law. Al it takes is an over zealous prosecutor who wants to make a name for themselves. In the mean time say HPD finds the gun in your home. You get arrested and have to post bail. Hopefully you don't miss work while you're trying to bail. Then you need to hire an attorney and have that person prove that there were circumstances that led to you to not registering the gun. Then the judge would have to feel the same way and rule in your favor. I say feel because per the law, it was unreg, thus illegal regardless of "how difficult life was made" for you.
So take what they guy at the window said with a grain of salt, because he isn't the one who will show up at your home.
The question that I don't have the answer to is that the last proc about this was #21. Ige's newest proc isn't #22, but instead has a different title to it. So does this new proc replace or add too the #21 proc? I'm leaning toward replacing because it does mention the same HRS that have been suspended (excluding HRS134). If it was an add on, it wouldn't mention the same HRS's.
You probably won't be going to jail for having an unregistered firearm as the sole charge unless you're a repeat offender. If the HPD processing policies were the primary cause, you'll likely be let off with community service or less.
"(b) Any person who violates section 134-3(a) shall be guilty of a
petty misdemeanor."
"§134-3 Registration, mandatory, exceptions. (a) Every resident or other person arriving in the State who brings or by any other manner causes to be brought into the State a firearm of any description, whether usable or unusable, serviceable or unserviceable, modern or antique, shall register the firearm within five days after arrival of the person or of the firearm, whichever arrives later, with the chief of police of the county of the person's place of business or, if there is no place of business, the person's residence or, if there is neither a place of business nor residence, the person's place of sojourn."
Petty Misdemeanor: A petty misdemeanor is the least serious type of criminal offense in Hawaii, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. (Haw. Rev. Stat. § § 706-640, 706-663.) For example, an assault (injury to another) that occurs during a fight or scuffle that the victim willingly entered into is punishable as a petty misdemeanor.
If you're not prohibited from owning a firearm, registration is an administrative oversight, not an actual crime (who was the victim?).
BTW, if you ARE prohibited from owning a gun, you can't be charged with failure to register under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution. So there's that, too.