STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2132
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2503 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREARMS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to support the State's gun buyback program, including at least two gun buyback events in each county.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Law Enforcement and three individuals.
Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Rifle Association, Mid Pacific Pistol League, Hawaiʻi Firearms Coalition, Puʻuloa Rifle and Pistol Club, Liberty and Justice Hawaii, and eighty-five individuals.
Your Committee received comments on this measure from two individuals.
Your Committee finds that gun buyback programs offer a safe opportunity for residents to dispose of unwanted or unlawful firearms, without incurring risk of prosecution or other penalties for possessing unlawful firearms. This ensures that participants are not deterred from the program. As an incentive, the State's gun buyback program offers participants up to $200 in gift cards in exchange for each firearm.
The Department of Law Enforcement conducted several successful buyback programs in 2025 and collected over five hundred firearms, including unregistered ghost guns. This measure facilitates the continuation and expansion of gun buyback programs in the State to continue support of safety and community trust.
Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2503, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2503, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,
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________________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair |
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