Hawaii: Important Hearing Protection Legislation to be Heard Friday

From NRA-ILA, February 8, 2017

On Friday, February 10, the House Water and Land Committee will hear House Bill 1589, sponsored by Representative Ryan Yamane (D-37).  This legislation would allow the use of sound suppressors while hunting in the state of Hawaii.  

UPDATE: HB1589 passed committee with amendments

Currently, 40 states allow the use of suppressors while hunting.  Sound suppressors attached to firearms (less accurately called "silencers") are an additional tool available to help protect hearing, increase accuracy and safety, and reduce noise complaints by surrounding residents.  While suppressors do not eliminate the sound of a firearm, they do reduce the muzzle report of a firearm, reducing the risk hearing damage.  Additionally, suppressors help increase accuracy by reducing felt recoil and shot “flinch.”  Suppressors also help reduce noise complaints from neighbors, which are frequently used as an excuse to close hunting lands throughout the country.

Please contact members of the committee and urge their support!

Also, please consider submitting testimony to the committee through the Hawaii Legislature website.  In order to submit testimony, you will need to create an account.  For help creating an account and submitting testimony, click here.

Last week, Senate Bill 280, Senate Bill 898 and Senate Bill 1036 were heard in the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs.  While SB 280 was deferred by the committee, SB 898 and SB 1036 were both amended and passed.

SB 280, sponsored by state Senator Gilbert- Keith-Agaran (D-5), Senator Stanley Chang (D-9) and Senator Will Espero (D-19), would have prohibited gun ownership to those placed on the “Terrorist Watchlist” without due process of the law.  The NRA does not want terrorists or dangerous people to have firearms; however, the NRA is opposed to a secret government list, which a large number of Americans mistakenly end up on every year, being used to deny individuals their constitutional rights. SB 280 was deferred by the committee.

SB 898, sponsored by state Senator Ronald Kouchi (D-8), would permanently strip an individual of their Second Amendment rights, not based on a criminal conviction or mental adjudication, but based on a quasi-criminal proceeding. The bill allows for firearms to be seized based on an ex-parte warrant application based on the low evidentiary standard of probable cause. An individual is entitled to a hearing, however that hearing may not take place for up to 30 days. At the hearing, the seized firearms can be retained and a permanent firearm prohibition can be put in place, not because of a disqualifying offense but merely the risk of one. SB 898 passed with amendments. At this time the amendments are not available.  

SB 1036, sponsored by Senator Clarence Nishihara (D-13), would allow firearm owners who have failed to register their firearms within the required five day time period to do so without fear of penalty. SB 1036 passed with amendments.

Once again, please contact members of House Water and Land Committee and urge them to support HB 1589! Stay tuned to your inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates.