You had to get your prints and were charged the fee prior to the passage of SB 69. So, the only thing SB 69 did was extend the 72 hours to 5 days.....
...yes folks apparently "had to" get the prints/fees up till effective date of SB69CD1. ....but for those folks visiting from out of state (or perhaps those folks moving here from out of state w/ previously acquired firearms), the existing statute didn't require the finger printing/fee.
De Facto, the police may have"required it", but it was not in the statute- and that was the "loophole" I believe the AG and others were referring to closing. So did you have to "do it"? Yes, or they would most likely deny your registration. Was it legally required. No- I don't think so. I'm not saying adding the fingerprinting/fee to these registrants is wrong or right. I'm not asking "should fingerprinting be required". It's great to extend from 3 to 5 days. The closing of the loophole does make this consistent with the rest of the process, but while folks "had to do it to get their guns registered", the law didn't state they had to. I think the Police just told folks they "had to".
When the registration dept/police take this liberty- to require when it wasn't in the statute- it indicates,IMO. how much latitude and discretion they have in the process. Or at least how much discretion they may have taken. I relate this act of discretion in registration process to the same problems within the process to get CCW approved. I don't think there are any written rules for some parts of the CCW permit approval process. The Chief of each county gets to "decide" if folks are "of good mental standing" (or what ever the wording is) without any "rules or procedures" for how they get to decide this. They will continue to approve or deny based on their "discretion". Currently, they are allowed to do this. Isn't there a potential conflict of interest between the legal CCW approval process and the will or opinion of the Chiefs? If they are going to misuse their discretion for the 134-3 acquire (fingerprinting process), they certainly may misuse their own "rules" to deny the CCWs.... and the way that statuate is written up, they have a right to use their "discretion" to deny CCW without any written rules for what constitutes "good mental standing".
I still wonder- if someone sued them for "requiring" fingerprinting when it was not in the statute- would this somehow be useful to those who are challenging the CCW approval/denial process? Seems like saying "look, they forced folks to fingerprint to complete registration process when it wasn't in the statute. This demonstrates they are willing to require things that are not in the law. We need to have some written procedure for how they determine what constitutes a "person of good mental standing" to avoid this same abuse of discretion in the CCW process."
It just seems like it would somehow help.
Here's the text from SB69CD1, and it looks like there's a little more than only extending the three days to five days....The Underlined part is new.
THE SENATE S.B. NO. 69 C.D. 1 TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013 STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Under Hawaii's existing laws, a person arriving in the State with a firearm is required to register the firearm, but no permit process or background check is required. Therefore, individuals who might have been prohibited from acquiring a firearm in Hawaii can acquire a firearm outside of this State, where a permit process or extensive background check may not be required, then possess and be considered registered firearm owners after registering with the county police department.
The purpose of this Act is to require persons arriving in the State with firearms to undergo a background check before registering a firearm with the county police department. In addition, this Act extends the time period for persons bringing a firearm into the State to register the firearm, for consistency with the time period for registering firearms obtained in or imported into the State.
SECTION 2. Section 134-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By amending subsection (a) to read:
"(a) Every 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 [three]
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. A nonresident alien may bring firearms not otherwise prohibited by law into the State for a continuous period not to exceed ninety days; provided that the person meets the registration requirement of this section and the person possesses:
(1) A valid Hawaii hunting license procured under chapter 183D, part II, or a commercial or private shooting preserve permit issued pursuant to section 183D-34;
(2) A written document indicating the person has been invited to the State to shoot on private land; or
(3) Written notification from a firing range or target shooting business indicating that the person will actually engage in target shooting.
The nonresident alien shall be limited to a nontransferable registration of not more than ten firearms for the purpose of the above activities.
Every person registering a firearm under this subsection shall be fingerprinted and photographed by the police department of the county of registration; provided that this requirement shall be waived where fingerprints and photographs are already on file with the police department. The police department shall perform an inquiry on the person by using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System before any determination to register a firearm is made." 2. By amending subsection (e) to read:
"(e) No fee shall be charged for the registration[.]
of a firearm under this section, except for a fee chargeable by and payable to the registering county for persons registering a firearm under subsection (a), in an amount equal to the fee actually charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the registering police department for a fingerprint check in connection with the registration. In the case of a joint registration, the fee provided for in this section may be charged to each person." SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2013.
Report Title:
Firearm Registration
Description:
Requires county police departments under certain conditions to fingerprint, photograph, and perform background checks on individuals who wish to register a firearm that was procured out-of-state. Authorizes the police departments to assess a fee for conducting a fingerprint check and specifies the amount of the fee. Extends the time period for registering a firearm procured out-of-state for consistency with the time period for registering firearms obtained in or imported into the State. (CD1)