A series of new requirements for obtaining a firearm have taken effect in Hawaii County, creating some confusion among residents.
As of Jan. 1, the county has imposed a series of changes to the conditions for obtaining a permit to acquire a firearm, in order to be in compliance with a state law passed last year.
Hawaii Police Department Lt. Nelson Acob said the most significant changes added time limits for necessary training courses: In order to obtain a handgun or long gun, applicants must now have completed their required training within the past four years.
“Before, we had some people coming in who took their training years ago,” Acob said.
Someone seeking to obtain a long gun must have completed a hunter’s education course within the past four years, whereupon they will receive a permit to acquire the gun that will be valid for one year.
The process to buy a handgun is similar. Applicants must have completed a firearms training or safety course by a certified instructor within the past four years. However, permits to acquire a handgun only are valid for 30 days, although Acob said that is an improvement from last year, when the permits lasted only 10 days.
The changes come in response to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a New York law which required a person have “proper cause” to be granted a concealed carry permit was unconstitutional. That ruling led other states, including Hawaii, to rewrite their gun regulations to be in compliance.
The Hawaii bill that made the state compliant, Senate Bill 1230, also included other controversial changes, including listing “sensitive locations” where firearms are prohibited — such as state buildings, hospitals, establishments that serve alcohol, sporting events, schools and more — new definitions for certain firearm offenses, and changes to the requirements for obtaining a concealed carry permit.
Acob added that the requirements for certified instructors also have changed. Training courses now need to include education about mental health, suicidal ideation and domestic violence and how those issues relate to firearms.
The new requirements have led to some concerns among prospective gun owners, said Hilo certified gun instructor Brian Cabreira, although he added they were largely incorrect and blown out of proportion on social media.
“There’s been a bit of confusion among people online,” Cabreira said. “Some people were saying that all applications in Hawaii were shut down completely.”
Cabreira said instructors on the Big Island were required to resubmit their credentials to the Hawaii Police Department in order to be listed as a certified instructor, which he did last year.
But he added that the recertification process is more involved on Oahu, and that the new applications for instructors there didn’t open until Dec. 26, leading some people to fear there were no more certified instructors on the island — which was then extrapolated to the entire state.
Cabreira said he saw a surge in gun training course participants in the last months of 2023, presumably by people attempting to get a permit before the new requirements took effect. However, Cabreira also said that surge has continued into 2024, since more recent training is now mandatory.
Sean Stueber, owner of Stuebs’ Guns &Ammo in Hilo, said he encouraged prospective customers to buy handguns before the end of 2023, “not knowing exactly what was going to happen” after the changes took effect.
“I think it’s going to be a fairly smooth transition, but I don’t think it’s great that people have to actually pay for the training to be able to exercise a constitutionally protected right, but other than that, I think it’ll be OK,” Stueber said.
While Cabreira said he agrees that requiring training and safety courses for firearm owners is a good thing — “people should be able to defend themselves, but they also shouldn’t be a detriment to society,” he said — he added that he doesn’t believe they will significantly impact criminals’ ability to obtain guns, and will only “hold good moral citizens accountable and to a higher standard.”
Acob said HPD issued 2,224 handgun permits and 2,123 long gun permits in 2023.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.