STAND. COM. REP. NO. 590

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 473

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 473, S.D. 1, 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)  Authorize the Department of the Attorney General to develop and implement a state program to allow active and retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed firearm in Hawaii pursuant to the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, as amended (LEOSA); and

 

     (2)  Make a conforming amendment to the state license to carry law.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and seven individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Institute for Rational and Evidence-based Legislation and twenty individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Rifle Association and six individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that the LEOSA affords active and retired law enforcement officers, including former officers who have separated after serving as law enforcement officers for ten years or more and certain military employees, the privilege of carrying a concealed firearm across state lines.  However, varying state approaches to implementation have hindered the consistent and effective operation of the federal law, especially with respect to qualified retired law enforcement officers.  Currently, Hawaii has not established firearm qualification standards for qualified retired law enforcement officers residing in the State or a statutory framework to uniformly permit active and qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon in Hawaii.  Implementation of this measure allows the Department of the Attorney General to develop and establish a consistent and effective operation of the LEOSA.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 473, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 473, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair