Big Island 2A Win
News Release from HiFiCo.org, Oct 9, 2021
Today after a mere 24 days, the County of Hawaii entered into a stipulation with Hawaii Firearms Coalition member Lance Choda and his Attorney Alan Beck and Kevin O'Grady.
The stipulation is a big win for the second amendment in Hawaii and reads in part:
"it is stipulated that County is permanently enjoined from denying an applicant’s permit to acquire a firearm due to being convicted of a crime of violence under H .R. S. § 134- 7(b), unless the conviction meets the definition of “crime of violence” under H.R.S. §134-1 ."
This means the county can no longer use a blanket denial process for those with harassment or disorderly conduct convictions but MUST show that the charge actually included a "crime of violence" as defined in HRS134-1.
HRS134-1 reads, "Crime of violence" means any offense, as defined in title 37, that involves injury or threat of injury to the person of another, including sexual assault in the fourth degree under section 707-733 and harassment by stalking under section 711-1106.5."
This narrowly tailored definition is designed to only remove arms and the right to bear them for those that possess the most risk to society. It is not to deny those that merely use harsh words with a neighbor, as it was in Mr. Choda’s case.
This makes 2 counties in recent months that have been caught violating the rights of their Citizens. Honolulu had a similar lawsuit earlier this year which was settled after mere days of filing. We hope the remaining two counties take note and make a conscious effort to not make the same mistakes.
Lance and HIFICO would like to thank the attorneys in this case. Attorney Alan Beck and Kevin O'Grady are once again standing up against the powers that be in Hawaii, defending the second amendment from the constant infringement by both the state and county governments.
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A copy of the stipulation can be found at LINK.
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