Is the firearm classified as an "antique" by ATF definition?
The following is a list of weapons that load from the muzzle and are classified as firearms, not
antiques, under the GCA, because they incorporate the frame or receiver of a firearm:
• Savage Model 10ML (early, 1st version)
• Mossberg 500 shotgun with muzzle loading barrel
• Remington 870 shotgun with muzzle loading barrel
• Mauser 98 rifle with muzzle loading barrel
• SKS rifle with muzzle loading barrel
• PB sM10 pistol with muzzle loading barrel
• H&R/New England Firearm Huntsman
• Thompson Center Encore/Contender
• Rossi .50 muzzle loading rifle
This list is not complete and frequently changes. There may be other muzzle loaders also
classified as firearms. As noted, any muzzle loading weapon that is built on a firearm frame or
receiver falls within the definition of a firearm provided in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3).
https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/0813-firearms-top-12-qaspdf/download§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.
...
"Firearm" means any weapon, for which the operating force is an explosive, including
but not limited to pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, automatic firearms, noxious gas projectors,
mortars, bombs, and cannon.
§134-2 Permits to acquire. (a) No person shall acquire the ownership of a firearm, whether
usable or unusable, serviceable or unserviceable, modern or antique, registered under prior law
or by a prior owner or unregistered, either by purchase, gift, inheritance, bequest, or in any other
manner, whether procured in the State or imported by mail, express, freight, or otherwise, until
the person has first procured from 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 place of business
nor residence, the person's place of sojourn, a permit to acquire the ownership of a firearm as
prescribed in this section.
I assume your friend is transferring ownership of the firearm to you and you are not the current owner?
If that's the case, then even if the ATF doesn't classify your antique as a firearm, Hawaii still requires you to obtain a permit to transfer ownership to you.
However, if you are having the friend ship you a rifle that you already own, then he/she can send it via USPS -- properly addressed and packaged per USPS regs -- without an FFL in the process. Then you'll still have to register the "out-of-state" firearm when you get it unless it meets the "loose black powder/1899 exception:
§134-3 Registration, mandatory, exceptions. (a) [Repeal and reenactment on June 30, 2025. L 2022, c 30, §5.]
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 and submit to physical inspection 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.
(d) Registration shall not be required for:
(1) Any device that is designed to fire loose black powder or that is a firearm manufactured before 1899;
If you're a class 03 C&R FFL holder, it would make it easier.
The good news is, if you have a current long gun permit (assuming the muzzle loader is a long gun), then the permit process is already completed. Just need to register after receipt.
USPS Policy:
a. Firearm means any device, including a starter gun, which will, or is designed to, or
may readily be converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame
or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or any destructive
device; but the term shall not include an antique firearm.
h. Antique firearm means any muzzle loading rifle/shotgun/pistol that is designed to use
black powder or a black powder substitute and that cannot use fixed ammunition (except
those that incorporate a firearm frame or receiver, any firearm that is converted into a
muzzle loading weapon, or any muzzle loading weapon that can be readily converted to
fire fixed ammunition by replacing the barrel, bolt, breechblock, or any combination thereof);
or any firearm (including those with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type
of ignition system) manufactured on or before 1898, or any replica thereof, if such replica:
1. Is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition.
2. Uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition that is no longer manufactured
in the United States and that is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial
trade.
https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2011/pb22321/html/updt_001.htmLots of crap to sift through, but it basically hinges on the firearm and whether it's even classified as a "firearm."
Good luck.
