Honolulu Police Department Declares No Second Amendment In Hawaii

News Release from HiFiCo, Dec 27, 2023

It has been brought to our attention from multiple sources that the Honolulu Police Department, under the guidance of Police Chief Logan, is no longer processing ANY firearms permit applications or concealed carry applications until after the new year, and he has the ability to verify or certify instructors. The department requires all applications submitted after December 18th to provide proof of instruction by a certified/verified instructor before processing their application.

The problem? --  He hasn't certified or verified any instructors.

A recent change in Hawaii law that goes into effect in January requires instructors to be certified or verified by the county police department is being used to ignore the constitutional rights of Hawaii citizens. Despite having more than 5 months to set up a process, Honolulu and the other counties took no action until now. Due to inaction or incompetence, this lack of a process means that Hawaiian citizens could be left with no legal method to obtain firearms for weeks or months after the law goes into effect.

The recent decision by Police Chief Logan to require people to be certified by nonexistent instructors means that NO ONE can purchase a handgun or rifle until after he holds a public meeting to change his previous rules to reflect the new state law. The chief has a meeting scheduled for January 9th and then must wait for the mayor to sign his rules before they go into effect. This means that until then, he has no legal process to verify or certify instructors.

All the other counties are in the same boat; realistically, the Chiefs should be pressuring the AG to suspend enforcement of the law for a few months until the process is in place. But what's more than likely is the countries will get sued for denying Hawaii's law-abiding citizens the right to bear arms. And this leads to another question: was there such a thing as a "permit to acquire" in 1776? Or was that something new they created in the 21st century?

- UPDATE -

Honolulu police contacted me and said that they are interpreting the new law to give them 40 days to process applications. They say that this is enough time to certify instructors and to get those instructors to teach people that have previously applied trained.

This in my opinion is a gross abuse of the law and its intent and is being used as a scapegoat for this lack of competency, and planning with regards to implanting the law change.

This, in addition to accepting instructor applications early, is a clear conflict with the Chief's rules which require a hearing to change.

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