The meeting went quite well. It was "passed on" with an amendment/request for some type of audit to perhaps address the possible costs of increasing new locations. All members voted it be forwarded on w/ the amendment. I'm typing on cellphone, so disjoint summary.
Three people provided testimony. The first was an officer from the PD who deals with permitting/registration for C&C Honolulu. Lots of good questions from Council members after his testimony. Kymberly Marco Pine (Vice Chair) cited Atty Generals "Firearms Registration 2012" report increase of apx 340% over 12 year period (combined registration and permits-and the %340 is from memory as I don't have report in front of me now). After pointing out this increase, she asked the officer if the dept had any increase in dept resources in light of this increase, and officer said "no". Good point. Need goes way up, services remain near the same. The officer did say they were considering making the forms available on line for folks to fill out before coming to the detp. He was noting they were trying to "streamline" the process.
I provided my testimony after the officer. I also pointed out I don't own any guns, nor have I ever been through the registration process. Then I tried to highlight financial hardships caused by folks having to make at least three separate trips to dept, and if they live in Waianae or Kahuku (etc) it is very time consuming and folks may have to take multiple days off from work (smaller paychecks and a strain on our C&C economy). I also noted that the Big Island range line item had been included in the budget (HB200) and talked that up a bit, then brought that back to C&C Hono by noting that if future visitors to this proposed/funded Kailua-Kona range stopped at Oahu for a few days on their way to Hawaii, they may have to register here to be w./I statute. If there's only one location serving the whole island, this could make it difficult for visitors to register, and they may not plan a stay on Oahu to be able to register on Big Island. I pointed out how C&C Hono economy may suffer if these visitors don't stay on Oahu and spend their tourist dollars Oahu too. Also noted they may not come at all if the registration process is perceived as too daunting. After I spoke, councilmember (Maybe Ron Menor???) asked if I thought the online forms would help with the time requirements. I noted the filling out of the forms was only a fraction of the time required to have to make three trips from north shore/Waianae etc....
Thrid speaker was Harvy Gerwig HRA.. He did a great job, and there were several questions from council members after his testimony. They asked about the possibility of registrqants/permitees being willing to pay a fee to help defray costs of process, and he noted HRA and NRA were NOT in favor of this. He also pointed out multiple locations on other Counties, and noted sworn officers manning the location may not be necessary and could cost more than "clerks" to handle paperwork. He noted this was the norm across the nation for the process. Good points all around.
After we three gave testimony, there were a couple more questions asked Mr Gerwig. This may have been when they asked about the possibility of charging money vs during his testimony, but I don't remember the order of the question.
All in all, I would say every single counsel member was in favor, and voted so. The whole meeting was video recorded, and there's a link on C&C website to request a copy of that video. I don't know if they produce a written transcript of the meeting or not. There were a couple news stations there. KHON and KITV. Mr Gerwig got by the KITV group outside the meeting, but was apparently interviewed by KHON outside the building. They KITV News person-Cam Tran- stopped me vs Mr Gerwig because she was very surprised I provided testimony and "I don't even own any guns". I gave her a copy of my testimony, The Atty Generals report, and she asked me several questions on camera, but I don't know if they used it for anything.
It would be worthi asking for a copy of the video of the meeting and watching the Resolution 13-74 part, as folks would see how on top of it the counsel was!!! They were really supportive, and almost all their questions were asked in such a way that the answers they got supported the need for more locations. (it's almost like someone (HRA?? or another supporter) gave a couple potential question to Pine, as they certainly were the right questions. She's very smart, and could easily have come up with the questions herself, but they were questions, when answered, demonstrated the need for something being done!! I'll see if I can get a copy of the meeting video, or if there's a written transcript. My Gerwig (or Dr Cooper) may provide a summary- their take- on the HRA website- I just gussing they may. I'm going to poke around the C&C website docuserver to try to find both the written testimony and the oral testimony. The Chair (Carol Fukunaga) noted before asking for oral testimony there there was "about 100" written testimonials submitted electronically. Folks here really were on top of submitting written testimony in favor. Madam Chair Fukunaga noted "there's an entire folder of testimony in support" that was provided to each counsel member. Cool.
Now I gotta write a little thanks to each of the Council members for their support.