Fact Sheet on Hawaii Gun Laws and Statistics on Gun Violence in Hawaii
This fact sheet provides background information for journalists covering today's shooting at a Honolulu, Hawaii office building.
Hawaii Firearm Laws1
- A permit is required to purchase any firearm. All firearms must be registered. Separate permits must be obtained to purchase a handgun.
- Since 1995, all applicants for a firearm permit must complete a firearms safety or hunter education course.
- No permit may be issued to a first-time applicant before a waiting period of 14 days has elapsed, but the permit must be approved or denied within 20 days.
- A "may-issue" concealed handgun licensing system is in place under which the chief of police of the appropriate county may issue concealed carry permits to carry concealed handguns to individuals who demonstrate a reason to fear injury to person or property.
Firearm-Related Death in Hawaii
- In 1996 Hawaii ranked 49th in rate of firearm-related death, with a rate of 4.40 per 100,000. In 1996 the national rate of firearm-related death was 12.94 per 100,000.2
- In 1996 Hawaii ranked 44th in rate of firearm-related homicide, with a rate of 1.81 per 100,000. In 1996 the national rate of firearm-related homicide was 6.02 per 100,000. 3
- In 1996 Hawaii ranked 48th in rate of firearm-related suicide, with a rate of 2.12 per 100,000. In 1996 the national rate of firearm-related suicide was 6.29 per 100,000.4
- In 1998 there were 24 murder victims in Hawaii. Of these, four were killed with handguns and rwo were killed with rifles.5
1) Hawaii Revised Statutes, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, State Laws and Published Ordinances, 1998
2) National Center for Health Statistics Compressed Mortality File 1996, accessed through the CDC Wonder system from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site at wonder.cdc.gov.
3) National Center for Health Statistics Compressed Mortality File 1996, accessed through the CDC Wonder system from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site at wonder.cdc.gov.
4) National Center for Health Statistics Compressed Mortality File 1996, accessed through the CDC Wonder system from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site at wonder.cdc.gov.
5) Crime in Hawaii, 1998.
The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.
