STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2543

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2519

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2519 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit, with certain exceptions, the manufacture, possession, sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition of detachable ammunition magazines with a capacity in excess of ten rounds, regardless of the type of firearm with which the magazine is compatible.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from The Office of the Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i, Church of the Crossroads, Everytown for Gun Safety, Hana Health, and thirty-two individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the National Rifle Association of America, Hawaii Firearm Coalition, KMConcepts, and three hundred forty-nine individuals.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii has some of the strongest gun safety laws in the nation, having received an A-minus rating from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The State is recognized as having one of the lowest gun related crimes in the nation. Despite this, gun related crimes are on the rise in the State. Your Committee believes that more needs to be done to improve gun safety laws and ensure the protection of residents and visitors by prohibiting the use of large-capacity magazines for firearms. Your Committee further finds that large-capacity magazines have been used in ten of the deadliest mass shootings that occurred in the past decade.

Your Committee recognizes the importance of recreational activities involving firearms, such as hunting and competitive shooting. Your Committee recognizes that this measure would potentially restrict those who currently legally possess magazines that would otherwise be banned under this measure. Your Committee believes it is important to provide protection for those who have legally acquired such magazines and have followed the laws accordingly to be able to obtain a firearm and the necessary ammunition.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the prohibition does not apply to detachable ammunition magazines with a capacity in excess of ten rounds that were legally in possession of an individual prior to the effective date of this measure;

(2) Requiring every person in the State who was in possession of a detachable ammunition magazine with a capacity greater than ten rounds prior to the effective date of this measure to register the magazine with the appropriate county police department;

(3) Prohibiting the sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition, except by means of inheritance, of a detachable ammunition magazine with a capacity greater than ten rounds that was in possession of an individual prior to the effective date of this measure and requiring the inheritor to update the registration with the appropriate county police department;

(4) Changing the effective date of this measure to January 1, 2021; and

(5) 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. 2519, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2519, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair