STAND. COM. REP. NO. 827

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 594
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
594 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to remove the good cause exemption that allows persons who are
the subject of a restraining order to possess a firearm.

     Your Committee finds in cases involving restraining orders
where good cause exemption becomes an issue, judges generally
take into consideration whether the person subject to the
restraining order is required to be armed at work.  If the case
involves a police officer, the courts defer the granting of
exemptions to the police chief with the rationale that the police
chief would best be able to determine whether the officer would
qualify for a good cause exemption.  Your Committee further finds
that within the past two years, the courts handled thirty-one
cases involving the granting of good cause exemptions, and
twenty-one of those cases involved police officers.  

     Your Committee believes that the current law needs to be
applied consistently in all cases, regardless of whether the
person subject to a restraining order is a police officer.
Judges should not be deferring the granting of an exemption to a
police chief.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 827
                                   Page 2


     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline and the Hawaii
State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  Testimony in
opposition to the measure was submitted by the Honolulu Police
Department, the Office of the Public Defender, Hawaii Citizens'
Rights Political Action Committee, and the Hawaii Rifle
Association.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the provisions of sections 1 and 2 as they are
          unnecessary since Act 189, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995,
          which effective date was extended by Act 133, Session
          Laws of Hawaii 1998, only affects section 134-7(c),
          Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (2)  Deleting the repeal of the good cause exemption; and

     (3)  Providing that "good cause" shall not be based solely
          upon the consideration that a person subject to a
          restraining order is required to be armed at work, but
          should also consider the protection and safety of the
          person to whom a restraining order is granted.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
594, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 594, S.D. 1, and
be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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