STAND. COM. REP. NO. 125

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1036

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1036 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Clarify that failure to register a firearm within the required time period does not relieve the owner of the duty to register the firearm; and

 

     (2)  Allow the owner of an unregistered firearm to register the firearm thereafter without penalty.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Honolulu Police Department and three individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Institute for Rational and Evidence-based Legislation and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the National Rifle Association Hawaii and two individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that the goal of ensuring that all firearms in the State are registered by its owner is vital to protecting the public's health, safety, and welfare.  Registration is particularly important for nonresident aliens who may bring firearms into the State.  The current law lacks sufficient clarity in providing guidance regarding firearms owners' duties to register their firearms even after the deadline to register has passed.  In addition, to further ensure that all firearms are properly registered, it is important to provide ample opportunity for owners to accomplish registration and to also eliminate any sense that owners will be punished for coming forward late to register their firearms.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1036, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1036, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

 

 

 

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair