Hawaii legislative committee advances gun control measures

A Hawaii State Senate Committee advanced five gun control bills, including measures on secure storage, ghost guns, and gun violence prevention, despite opposition from gun rights advocates.

by Jeremy Yurow, Court House News, March 19, 2025

HONOLULU (CN) — The Hawaii State Senate Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs advanced a slew of gun control bills Wednesday that together would increase penalties for felons with firearms, ban ghost guns, streamline firearm reporting and establish a new office focused on gun violence prevention.

The most contested bill Wednesday was House Bill 664, which would establish a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Department of Law Enforcement. The office would conduct public awareness campaigns, administer community organization grants, create a Gun Violence Resource Bank, and develop a statewide gun violence prevention plan.

Jay Franzone, a Johns Hopkins University violence prevention researcher, spoke in support of the bill.

"Laws alone aren't enough. We need the infrastructure to support violence prevention and comprehensive violence prevention," Franzone said. "HB 664 is a driven solution that enables our state to be a leader in public safety and actually put these policies into action."

Erica Yamauchi from Moms Demand Action provided statistics.

"Our gun death rate according to the CDC has increased more than 70% from 2013 to 2022 and firearms were the second leading cause of death among children and teens in Hawaii ages one through 17, from 2018-2022."

Resident Michael Rice said that while he agreed with the intent of HB 664, he believes that such offices are often "dominated by anti-gun groups."

Before passing HB 664, the committee incorporated amendments proposed by the Attorney General's office to transfer the existing gun violence and violent crimes commission from the Attorney General's office to the Department of Law Enforcement, preventing duplication of efforts.

Hawaii maintains one of the nation's lowest gun violence rates at approximately 4.9 deaths per 100,000 people, according to Pew Research Center.

But the impact of gun violence is still felt in the state. Honolulu police, for example, have been advocating for a crackdown on ghost guns, reporting 68 cases involving such guns in the first 10 months of 2024. That's a 120% increase from such incidents in 2023, according to reports.

House Bill 392, which would ban ghost guns — untraceable firearms without serial numbers — and establish mandatory minimum sentences for using such weapons in felony crimes, also received committee approval Wednesday.

The committee also advanced House Bill 137, which would subject violent felons who illegally possess firearms to mandatory prison sentences.

"This is the only bill introduced this session aimed at addressing gun violence by holding serious repeat offenders accountable," Hawaii County Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen said. "Felons forfeit their right to keep and bear arms when they choose to commit crimes."

William Bento from the Office of the Public Defender expressed opposition to the bill's mandatory sentencing provision.

"We always have opposition to mandatory sentences because there are situations where it's totally inappropriate," Bento said. "This body has to approve every single circuit court judge that gets named to the bench ... this body is saying that that person has good judgment, and therefore that person should be charged with the duty of meeting out sentencing that's appropriate."

The committee also passed House Bill 125, the Hawaii Secure Firearm Storage Act, would require gun sellers to provide buyers with information about storage laws at purchase time while expanding secure storage requirements. The bill received mixed feedback from members of the community who showed up to speak about it.

"Safe Storage is constitutional," Ramya Swamy, policy counsel at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told committee members Wednesday. "The Supreme Court noted this in its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, and that opinion would not suggest the invalidity of laws regulating the storage of firearms to prevent accidents."

Jerry Yeun, president of Pu'uloa Hawaii Pistol Club, countered: "I would rather see a comprehensive violence prevention program rather than just focusing on an object like a gun. Please focus on the root causes."

Additionally, the committee passed House Bill 995, updating reporting requirements for firearm licenses. The measure requires the Department of the Attorney General to publish an annual report on concealed carry licenses and mandates county police chiefs to submit relevant data.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez emphasized the importance of the various gun control measures in a September 2024 memo.

"Without better data, research aimed at understanding and reducing violent crime and gun violence is nearly impossible," she wrote.

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HNN: Several gun control bills advance in state Senate