Honolulu Police Department is Being Sued Again for Violating Second Amendment Rights.
News Release from Hawaii Firearms Coalition, April 5, 2022
Hawaii Firearms Coalition lawyers Alan Beck and Kevin O'Grady filed a lawsuit today in the Hawaii District Federal Court. The lawsuit says that HPD's policies and procedures for mental health disqualifications are a violation of the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
Currently, anytime a person applies for a permit to acquire a firearm, they must provide a waiver allowing HPD to contact medical professionals. The form informs your doctor that you are purchasing a firearm and requires them to provide a determination regarding whether you have been treated for any unlisted mental health conditions.
HPD uses this information from your doctor to determine your mental health status. At no point during the process does HPD actually confirm what the mental condition is or how it was diagnosed. As such, something as simple as seeing a marriage or grief counselor is used to deny permit applications.
Still, want to own a firearm after being denied? HPD will require you to get a medical clearance letter saying that you are no longer adversely affected by the unlisted condition. Often times this will result in an out-of-pocket expense in the hundreds of dollars in order to be cleared of a medical condition that should never have excluded you from acquiring a permit in the first place.
There are many reasons why this is unconstitutional, but to boil it down into basic terms, if HPD believes you have a mental health condition, you can't own a firearm until you spend hundreds of dollars proving your eligibility.
This policy has affected thousands of people who are not and have never been disqualified from legally owning a firearm. As such, Hawaii Firearms Coalition fully supports this lawsuit and intent and looks forward to the court's decision.
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