STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2676

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2955

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2955 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 chief of police of the respective counties to issue permits to acquire firearms to permanent resident aliens age twenty-one years or more;

     (2)  Repeal the authority of the chief of police of the respective counties to issue firearm permits to acquire firearms to aliens who are state law enforcement officers, aliens with a hunting license age eighteen years or more for use of rifles and shotguns, aliens age twenty-one years or more for a specific organized sport-shooting contest, and spouses jointly;

     (3)  Require the issuing authority for firearm permits to perform an inquiry on an applicant using the Criminal Justice Information System, National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System including the United States  Immigration and Customs Enforcement query therein, National Crime Information Center, and National Instant Criminal Background Check System; and

     (4)  Authorize a county issuing a firearm permit to charge a single fee chargeable by and payable to the issuing county, for individuals applying for their first permit, in an amount equal to the fee charged by the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Police Department, City and County of Honolulu; and twenty-nine individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the National Rifle Association and five individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that criminal background checks of firearm applicants are critical to ensure the safety of the community.  Implementation of this measure will further public safety by clarifying the background check process and allowing county police departments to enroll firearm applicants into the rap back program, which will provide a mechanism to alert a county police department when the owner of a firearm is arrested for a criminal offense anywhere in the country.  This notification will allow the county police departments to evaluate whether the firearm owner may continue to legally possess and own firearms.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Replacing "rap back system" with "rap back program";

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

     (3)  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 Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2955, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2955, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair