STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2637
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 3349
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. 3349 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Establish the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Department of the Attorney General for administrative purposes only;
(2) Repeal the Gun Violence and Violent Crimes Commission; and
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America Hawaiʻi Chapter, Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America Hawaiʻi Chapter, Everytown for Gun Safety, and twenty-three individuals.
Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Tigershark, LLC; Red Letter Industries; National Rifle Association; and more than seventy-five individuals.
Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Honolulu Police Department and two individuals.
Your Committee finds that the State has some of the strongest gun safety laws in the nation and had the third lowest number of gun deaths per capita in the nation as of 2021. While this data is an achievement, your Committee finds that there is no office dedicated to gun violence prevention. Your Committee notes that the State is dedicated to protecting the safety and well-being of its residents, therefore, establishing an office to focus on gun violence prevention is necessary to achieve this goal.
Your Committee notes that the Senate Draft 1 of this measure contains an unspecified appropriation amount. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it considers inserting an appropriation amount of $150,000 for fiscal year 2024-2025 for one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) director, one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) grant writer position, one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) analyst position, and operating costs and equipment, including equipment necessary for analyzing relevant data relating to gun violence.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Inserting an unspecified appropriation amount;
(2) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2042, 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 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. 3349, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3349, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,
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________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair |
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