Hawaii Five 0 (courtesy breitbart.com)

The recent firearms sales surge isn’t so recent. It started in the months before President Obama took office. If you recall, the anti-gun mainstream media attributed the dramatic surge to OFWG racist paranoia. Still do, in fact. Anyway, since then, gun sales have risen and fallen – but mostly risen. A lot. Polls “reveal” that gun ownership has remained steady, but the polls are wrong – as we’ve explained numerous times. As states restore Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms – making it easier to obtain concealed carry licenses and suchlike – more and more Americans are keeping and bearing arms. Where they aren’t they aren’t. To wit, Hawaii . . .

Let’s start at the end of the article Gun registration takes big drop in Hawaii at kitv.com:

A bill was proposed to allow concealed weapons carry by more people — including active and retired police officers, along with some members of the military.

“If it is military or police officers and they are qualified on it, I don’t see a problem with it,” said [Ewa Beach resident Lou] Collazo.

But not enough lawmakers felt the same, and on Friday deferred the bill. It keeps the current law in place, which requires each county police chief to approve an individual’s concealed carry permit, something that rarely happens in Hawaii.

Hurricanes hardly ever happen in Hawaii (not to mention Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire). Concealed carry permits for law-abiding Aloha State residents, never. You can round down to zero the number of permits issued. Ex-military? Off-duty cops? Retired cops? Go sing. Is it any surprise that Hawaiian gun registration is falling faster a Bill Swift sinker ball?

Overall Hawaii has seen a significant drop in firearms registrations.

After eight years of increases, the number of registered firearms dropped to 48,324 for 2104. That’s down 20 percent from the record number of 60,757 reached 2013.

So make no mistake. “Gun safety” advocates who love them some state-supervised vetting processes for aspiring gun owners know exactly where that would lead: civilian disarmament. That is their goal. That is all.

47 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t really consider Ha part of the US. It has more in common with asian islands. I think they’re pretty cool with the tyranny, “why do they need a gun?”

    • With the highest per capita military personnel of any state in the country, and a ton of retired vets living here, we aren’t down with tyranny of anykind.

    • Only reason we are a state and not our own country is that the powers that be kept guns out of the hands of the people they are on a roll and are not going to stop ever……

    • Ya; it’s not like the monarch of Hawaii has any reason to fear an invasion of white devils from the east would invade her country, take over and de-throne her in a coup! How ridiculous. It is manifest destiny that her peaceful subjects should be converted to Christianity and be governed by a Great-White/Black-Father in Washington.

  2. With the extreme mahala anything goes left-wing bent what would you expect? At least the weather is nice…as I look out at 4” of fresh cold snow…

  3. Well, that or they just aren’t bothering to register anymore. You know, like Connecticut.

  4. So someone splain this to me. Gun ownership went down in Hawaii 12,000 guns in a year. What, did they throw them in the Ocean, a Volcano, what? My BS O-meter is in high gear.

    • After Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian citizens patrolled beaches with personally owned rifles. My grandfather (a steelworker at Pearl) had a veritable arsenal of hunting rifles (for boar) and handguns. My dad recalls he used to shoot his .38 special in the air on New Years Eve — not a Rhodes scholar, to be sure, but a National Guardsman and a patriot. That was a long time ago.

  5. Hunting is really big here on Maui. Going out and practicing with your firearm is hard to do. And you have to pay, to register all firearms each year. The first time you register your firearm is the hardest. Not only do you have to pay for a background check. Prove that you are mentally stable. And hand over all your firearms for inspection. After the first time you only have to pay each year. So you can see why the numbers for registration have gone down. You have to jump through many hoops to exercise your Second Amendment rights.

    • This corelates with my impression of Hawaii that if you have money, they constantly have their hands in your pockets for everything. My wife files state taxes for a large US corp. and Hawaii seems to be one of the worst to deal with. When they audit, they aren’t looking to just set the record straight, they are looking to shake you down for whatever they can get. Should be known as the “The Shakedown State”.

    • So when are all these retired vets going to rise-up and protest to their State legislators? They should have plenty of time on their hands to lobby and march and protest. So many mainland States have taught their legislators to march to the fife and drum; why not in HI now?

        • Politicians don’t really care about any of us. That hasn’t prevented gun owners from getting their State legislators to see the light and pass right-to-carry and other pro-gun legislation in the mainland.

          I imagined that lots of vets would have retired to HI making them a voter force to be recorded with. Is this not the case? I clearly understand that if any interest group constitutes too small a fraction of the electorate then that group is simply disenfranchised. Especially so if the interest groups that form the majority are dead-set against the interests of the small interest group.

  6. The “aloha” attitude is awesome for unwinding, but contrary to the “Protestant work ethic” that spawns self-sufficiency. Hanging loose is also antithetical to preparedness. You’re not going to convince many there to wear a holster under their board shorts and trade in flip flops for sturdy shoes. That’s also why you have a lot of folks on the dole and uninterested in doing much more than surfing. Speaking of Dole, Hawaii’s (US) history is akin to a fiefdom run by sugar and other interests, so there also is little precedence for independence.

    Make no mistake, Hawaii is very much America — or at least one possible compass heading if global warming continues. Harsh winters keep us honest.

  7. I was under the impression retired LEO’s could carry in every state regardless of laws? Not saying I agree with any such law that says “plenty for we, none for thee” but in 2004 the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act permitted just that, unless that’s been amended since. Again, I’m not arguing to say the high almighty police deserve more rights than us lowly peasants, but Hawaii can’t deny a retired cop from any state the ability to carry so why did they even include the purpose of the permit was to allow “the police and military”? Are they just that ignorant of the law? I point this out because it really shows how truly ignorant these antis’ are, and how far up the ignorance runs.

    • It is my understanding that it is not automatic, but requires the approval of your commanding officer. If true, this may explain the bill, because most local police chiefs are rabidly anti-gun and anti-CCW. This is of course subject to change if Peruta stands up to the pending rehearing en banc motions and/or appeal to the USSCt. Peruta has a companion case, the name of which I do not recall, in which a challenge was raised to Hawaii’s virtual no issue may issue law. On appeal from the denial of a preliminary injunction, the same panel that decided Peruta and Richards reversed, saying: “see Peruta.” Since Peruta concludes that all the good cause needed to exercise one’s Second Amendment right is the desire to do so, Hawaii’s law is imperiled.

      Meanwhile, we wait on Peruta. By this point in time (procedurally)–although no one knows for certain–a vote should have been taken as to whether or not to rehear the case en banc. Speculation is that since the vote has not been announced, some justice(s) is writing a dissent to a denial of an en banc hearing. Assuming, without opining, that this is the state of affairs, an appeal to the Supreme Court will happen, as the losing parties in Hawaii and Yolo County have vowed to do so. It is also possible that the vote has been delayed to allow the various justices of the court to research the issue before voting, but again, no one knows.

      • Thank you very much for explaining the speculation. I was wondering where we stood on Peruta and haven’t heard any news recently. The speculation you recite makes some sense. Denying en banc probably represents the easy way out for the 9th Circuit. They don’t have to make fools of themselves arguing about the panel’s well reasoned decision; nor do they have to betray their liberal friends by upholding the panel’s decision. They can just refuse.
        I wonder if BOTH :
        – en banc is denied in Peruta and
        – the DC case makes comes to some sort of conclusion
        whether the circuit split on right-to-carry becomes ripe-enough for SCOTUS to step-up to the plate. The 2’nd, 3’rd, and 4th circuits have supported Won’t-Issue. 7’th compelled Shall-Issue. If 9th settles on Shall-Issue then the only circuit remaining that – I think – can have a controversy is the DC circuit. This is to say that – I think – all other States in the remaining circuits are already Shall-Issue; so, SCOTUS can’t wait forever for a right-to-carry case to arise out of any other circuit once the DC circuit rules on a DC case.
        Then what?
        SCOTUS will have allowed – since Heller and McDonald – the District courts to interpret the 2A w/r/t a right-to-carry. They would have allowed the Circuit courts to advance the analysis. There will remain no further opportunity for any additional Circuit to weigh-in. Would it not them become incumbent upon SCOTUS to resolve the circuit split? What else might they reasonably wait for? If nothing else remains to inform the judicial debate than it’s time for SCOTUS to resolve the circuit split.
        Is this a plausible line of reasoning?

  8. Don’t believe those numbers, folks. I am an NRA instructor in Hawaii and our classes have sold out every month for two years. The state government is no friend to gun owners, as they think stopping infringement of our rights will poison their holy tax Grail called tourism (Waikiki). The reality is not what the state says it is. These numbers are coming out as a response to the peruta decision which overturned a ruling on concealed carry in Hawaii in the Baker case. The state is shaking in their boots that it will stand in the courts, opening a floodgate of litigation against the infringement of the second amendment here in Hawaii.

    • What organization do you represent in Hawaii? I’d be interested in taking some classes with my girlfriend.

    • Would it help motivate the HI legislature if lots of gun-owners sent e-mails to Hawaii businesses and the HI Tourism Board saying something like:

      “I was planning a 2 week vacation in Hawaii; however, I see that Hawaii doesn’t honor my XY-State CWP. So, I think I’ll vacation in ________ State instead.”

      IF this seems like a good idea for HI, then maybe it could be generalized. Imagine a web site that ranks States as vacation venues by their gun-friendliness. Fishing States; skiing States; beach States; etc. A reciprocity map linkage; e.g., I say I’m from PA and have non-resident permits from FL; UT; MN. I want to go to the beach. I see a list of States ranked by how good they are for their beaches and how good they are on guns. They tell me if I can OC in my Speedos.

      Here’s the money shot. We compile the e-mail addresses for the tourism bureaus in each of these States and e-mails for hotels (and other vendors) that the user browses.

      When the user leaves the web site he is invited to say which State he thinks he’d like to visit; he picks State XY. Now, he can pick from any of several pre-prepared e-mail texts (which he can customize) which the site sends automatically to all the Tourism Boards, hotels and vendors from other States (not in State XY). The user can supply his own e-mail address and the site adds a PS: “When your State gets gun-friendly, please feel free to send promotional information to me at [email protected]

      Assuming the web site provides good functionality in directing vacationers to interesting States (based on interest in beaches, skiing, etc.) it ought to generate some traffic. It ought to generate some traffic from gun rights advocates who would mostly like to send e-mails to businesses in gun-hostile States.

      • Awesome idea! I will pass this on. Ideas like this are how we win the fight against infringement!

  9. Robert,

    Ownership isn’t falling, it’s accelerating. Our classes here in Hawaii are always on wait lists. We have 15-20 instructors per class to handle the incredible interest in purchasing handguns. Given the state is shaking in there boots about the Peruta and Baker decisions standing in the Nineth Circuit Court, The state will do anything to make it seem that the numbers of gun ownership is “down”. It is more accurate to say the registration of new guns has dipped but that is understandable after the craziness of the last several years. Also, please realize that we have significant wins here in Hawaii, recently the court ruled legal resident aliens can own firearms… It sounds crazy but several of our instructors are from Australia and Korea. It took legal action for them to legally own firearms. Thanks to their tenacity and their lawyers the state HAS TO let them buy firearms. This is a major win on the road to tearing down the infringements on the Second Amendment here in the Aloha State.

  10. Hawaii’s a series of islands. So I believe there must be a corresponding increase in boating accidents!

  11. This is misreported. once guns are registered, that’s it. they are talking about NEW registrations. ownership isnt falling, just the rate of new ownership is. which is expected, because the biggest reason the last year was so high was because of the Newton scare.

    no one unregistered their guns or took them off the island (at least, more than normal). its just hard to beat the rise you see with an Assault Weapons Ban scare.

  12. Yep, registration, the reason why I left for Oregon. It’s so nice walking into the shop, filling out my 4473, waiting, and walking out. Usually it all happens in 30 minutes or less. Even better, I can resort to armslist.

  13. I’m glad that the bill got shot down.

    Let the ex-mil and ex LE suffer with the rest of the philistines. The simple reality is that many active shooters (yes, I used that term) are far far better shots than many LEOs. Lets not forget that in many states police only have to qualify once each year. And many don’t shoot any time other than the qualification.

    Besides, shiny badges and fancy costumes don’t confer extra rights.

    Don

  14. We have the same problem in the US Virgin Islands.
    The process is so convoluted that only a handful have the interest or the money to make it through.

    So far it hasn’t done anything to reduce crime.

    • I understand that the USVI has an astronomical murder rate and that it’s due to drug trafficking. Do you know of a source of historical figures on murder rates for the past 40 years or so that could be compared to the rise of drug use in the US? (I looked but didn’t find anything).
      It would be interesting if it showed that the war-on-drugs drove (coincidence) a soaring homicide rate. The USVI is a very isolated “test tube” in which we could reasonably assume that not too many other variables changed over this period of time. The independent variable that did change significantly was probably drug trafficking; and, the dependent variable that tracked behind it was murder rate.
      A USVI-born acquaintance explained to me how strategically positioned USVI is between South America and the BVI. A plane with a flight plan to BVI flies among the USVI, pushes a bale of drugs out the door and lands in the BVI. After a brief sojourn in BVI, the plane returns to South America. Divers from USVI pick-up the bale and bring it to shore. There, it can be packed among household goods or in empty containers bound for the US mainland where they are free from customs inspection.
      If the gist of this traffic pattern is true, Colts and S&Ws can be exported to South America and return to the US free of any pesky 4473 forms along the same route.

  15. No one seems to notice that they are talking about the year 2104. Someone has too much time on their hands. I know that there a few wackos that believe time travel is possible. I ain’t one of them.

  16. Unfortunately, I work for an organization that despises the U.S. constitution and prohibits firearms but when travelling I always have one in my luggage and place of lodging. I always have one in Hawaii and must register it because if I get in trouble with the law I can be fired The new registration is around $17 and they take your picture, finger prints, and weapon until they verify you can pass the NICS. Additional firearms can be added with no further fees.

    Yes, I know I am stuck on this one with no other choice but my go bag is always near just in case some disaster happens and I can’t get home.

  17. Now I have to look this up – what is crime in Hawaii? If you have a CCW does it make sense to carry here?

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