Part of Hawaii Registration Law Unconstitutional

From HiFiCo, Sept 23, 2021  (UPDATE Sept 29, 2021 below)

The Requirement to Bring Firearms to Police station and Register Firearms in Person is NO LONGER HAWAII LAW!

This evening (Thursday, September 23, 2021) the Judge issued his finalized order for Yukutake v Connors.  In doing so, denied the state's motion to stay the decision (in part) pending their appeal.

The state had requested that the judge stay (delay) the enforcement of his decision until the state appeals the case to the 9th circuit.

The judge approved a stay on the part of the lawsuit that affected the ten day expiration of pistol permits. This means that these permits will continue to be good for only ten days until the appeals process is over.

The judge denied the stay on the part of the lawsuit that looked at the requirement to register firearms in person and to take the firearms with you.

In his order, he states that "the requirement of in-person inspection and registration, are severed from their respective statutes and stricken"

What this means is that the requirement to go to the police station and complete the paperwork and the requirement to present your firearms for inspection when doing; so are no longer law.

Registration of firearms is still required, but the method of registration can not require you to go in person to do so. How exactly this will be implemented is yet to be seen and im sure it will take a couple of days for the counties to work it out.

The registration paperwork is available online via the Honolulu police department's website. ( Firearms - Honolulu Police Department honolulupd.org) and in his orders, the judge suggests that the counties use a dropbox, email or website to allow for the collection of the information.

We will be reaching out to the counties over the next couple of days to inform them of the change in law and to find out how they intend to proceed.

HIFICO intends to enforce this order to the fullest extent possible. we will provide updates as and when we get them, please stay tuned to this page.

If you wish to view a copy of the judges order (IT'S AN AMAZING READ) You can do so here  >>> LINK <<<

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UPDATE September 29, 2021:

As we informed you last week, Hawaii has seen the biggest change to its registration scheme since it was implemented. A Hawaii Federal Judge declared that its requirement that a person registers in person and present their firearm for inspection was unconstitutional.

We reached out to the county police departments to seek information on how they plan to implement the changes and were informed by most that it would take a few days for them to put together a plan.

Today we heard back from Assistant Chief Darren Chun via e-mail and, here is the information that he provided to us.

"We will not be mandating registrants to come in-person, either to register a firearm or bring the firearm in, and they do not have to bring the firearm in to be registered if they do come in-person.

What we are providing is an Option. In-person registration is an option, and they can bring in their firearm if they want, but doing so does not affect their registration at all, what we need is the necessary information to conduct the transfer, we are implementing procedures to provide registrants options that can help their registration process.

We are also constructing an online registration system for both rifles and handguns. You can come in-person now, or wait until we have our online system implemented, but that is being constructed with an unknown estimated time of completion but is being diligently worked on. We will notify the public when this system is initiated.

We are formulating an “Instruction Guide” to provide to buyers/registrants and sellers on the laws and options of obtaining the proper information in order to register their firearm.

We will update our website to reflect our protocols, options, and intended resolutions. We will use our website, social media, and media liaison to assist in enlightening the public on the laws regarding firearms prohibitions and the Permit to Acquire and Registration requirements and protocols."

--Please be aware that this is the protocol being out in place for HONOLULU ONLY. --

We are sure the other counties will be following in their footsteps and implementing a similar process. We will update you as we find out.

This policy, in combination with the previous settlement agreement with the City and County of Honolulu will mean getting a firearm is as easy as 1, 2, 3

1. Go to police station to apply for permit.

2. HPD Mails your permit to you or the store.

3. Register your gun online.

Everything that you need to do will be accomplished with a single trip to the police station.

We would once again like to take this opportunity to thank HIFICO attorneys Alan Beck and Stephen Stamboulieh. The hard work and dedication of these two great men has allowed us to get to where we are today.