Hawaii: Anti-Gun Bills Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee Hearing This Week
From NRA-ILA, February 24, 2016
Three anti-gun bills are scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, February 25, and Friday, February 26. Please contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee immediately to voice your strong opposition to these anti-gun bills. Click the “Take Action” button below to contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee!
House Bill 2502 is scheduled to be considered on Thursday.
HB 2502 would ban the import, sale, purchase, barter, and possession with intent to sell of any ivory (defined to include mammoth ivory), ivory product, rhinoceros horn, rhinoceros horn product and products from various other animal species. In order for afirearm containing ivory to be legal, the ivory component would have to make up less than twenty percent of the firearm’s volume. Accurately measuring the “volume” of a complex mechanical object such as a firearm or of small, non-removable ivory components such as inlaid decorations would be a daunting task. Further, this requirement fails to take into account that many variations of ivory pieces which may be present on a firearm. While the NRA applauds serious efforts to stop poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, banning the trade and sale of legally owned, pre-ban ivory will not save one elephant.
House Bill 1813 and House Bill 626 are both scheduled to be considered on Friday.
HB 1813 would prohibit any individual whose name is added to the deeply flawed and inaccurate Terrorist Watch list, from owning or possessing firearms. This secret government list would strip law-abiding individuals of their constitutional rights without due process.
HB 626 is aimed at individuals who recklessly possess a firearm while intoxicated. The problem with this bill lies in the broad definition of “possession” which could possibly extend to a firearm that isn’t actually in one’s possession but nearby or accessible in one’s home. For example, an individual who has come home from having a few drinks with friends and goes to bed next to a nightstand containing a loaded self-defense gun, could be charged with a crime.
Additionally, Senate Bill 2647 was amended by the Senate Judiciary and Labor/Water, Land and Agriculture committees and passed the Senate floor on February 22 with a 15-7 vote. SB 2647 was sent to the House of Representatives but it has not been assigned a committee hearing at this time. House Bill 2632 passed the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, February 24 with a 12-1 vote.
As previously reported, SB 2647 would ban the import, sale, purchase, barter, and possession with intent to sell of any ivory (defined to include mammoth ivory), ivory product, rhinoceros horn, rhinoceros horn product and products from various other animal species. SB 2647 goes far beyond law-abiding gun owners and would adversely impact anyone who owns ivory, and products from a wide variety of animals, by significantly diminishing the value of lawfully acquired property. To read more about ivory ban legislation, please refer to NRA-ILA’s Ivory Ban Fact Sheet.
HB 2632 would expand the list of possible prohibited possessors to include anyone who has undergone emergency hospitalization. This expansion for emergency hospitalization is vague and could entrap a person who has suffered something as common as diabetic shock to suddenly lose their Second Amendment rights, without due process of the law, simply for receiving care.
Once again, please contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee immediately to voice your strong opposition these egregious bills!
Please forward this email to friends, family and fellow Second Amendment supporters in Hawaii and encourage them to do the same.
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3 anti-gun bills up for hearing Friday in F-rated Karl Rhoads' JUD Committee
From Hawaii Rifle Association, February 25, 2016
Click on any bill number and submit testimony on all three from that web page.
House Bill 1813
Prohibits a person listed in the federal Terrorist Screening Database from owning, possessing, or controlling a firearm or ammunition.
HRA is STRONGLY OPPOSED to this bill because there are many people who have been put on to this list that did not belong on the list and getting off the list is next to impossible, even for an innocent person. Persons can be placed on this list who have not been adjudicated with any of the disqualifying characteristics spelled out in HRS 134. There is NO DUE PROCESS exhibited in this bill and would remove a persons Constitutional rights without adjudication. We could support this measure if it were amended such that PROOF of disqualifying crimes or mental conditions were investigated by HPD and presented to the applicant at the time of permit denial, not merely the applicant's appearance on this often erroneous list.
House Bill 626
Prohibits the physical possession of any firearm while consuming or under the influence of an intoxicant.
STRONGLY OPPOSED. HB 626 is aimed at individuals who "recklessly possess a firearm while intoxicated." The problem with this bill lies in the broad definition of “possession” which could possibly extend to a firearm that isn’t actually in one’s possession but nearby or accessible in one’s home. For example, an individual who has come home from having a few drinks with friends and goes to bed next to a nightstand containing a loaded self-defense gun, could be charged with a crime. Likewise, "intoxication" is not defined.
HB2201
STRONGLY OPPOSED. Denies a judge the option to accept a no contest plea in family violence cases instead of conviction. A person would lose gun rights forever if convicted of as little as sending unwelcome texts to a girl friend, with no recourse short of a Governor's pardon to regain rights.
DEADLINE TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY: 02-25-16 2:00PM
MAHALO,
HARVEY GERWIG, LEGISLATIVE LIAISON, HRA.