STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2653

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2845

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2845 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) Prohibit a person from selling ammunition to a person under the age of twenty-one; and

(2) Prohibit a person under the age of twenty-one from owning, possessing, or controlling ammunition.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two members of the Hawaiʻi County Council, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Indivisible Hawaii, Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America Hawaiʻi Chapter, Students Demand Action for Gun Sense Hawaiʻi Chapter, Indivisible Hawaii Healthcare Team, and over fifty-five individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the National Rifle Association, Puʻuloa Rifle and Pistol Club, Hawaii Rifle Association, Hawaii Firearms Coalition, and over two hundred individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Honolulu Police Department and one individual.

Your Committee finds that while the State has some of the strongest gun safety laws in the nation, state laws restricting the sale, ownership, and possession of ammunition do not currently align with other gun safety measures. Additionally, numerous states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont, have set a minimum age requirement for ammunition sales. Your Committee further finds that setting a minimum age requirement to purchase, own, or possess ammunition that conforms to the existing minimum age requirement to purchase, own, or possess a firearm in the State will help to ensure the safety of residents and reduce incidents of gun violence in the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding language to exempt individuals who are less than twenty-one years of age who are engaged in hunting or target shooting pursuant to section 134-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(2) 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 and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2845, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2845, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________

GLENN WAKAI, Chair