Hawaii is an anti-gunner’s paradise.
In fact, most people would consider it paradise regardless of the gun laws, but when you take the amazing weather, the beaches, and the gun control into account, there are some people who would be more delighted than others.
And those laws recently changed, just as they did a number of places, which didn’t go well. Despite the laws now being on the books, there’s still a lot of question regarding implementation.
So, the Honolulu Police held a hearing–and since most other places are waiting to follow HPD’s lead, this might as well be for the whole state–and a lot of people expressed their concerns.
The Honolulu Police Department held a public hearing Tuesday on proposed policy changes for gun permits and licenses.
Officers heard nearly two hours of testimony on new rules hat would require applicants to go submit to private instruction, and background check, including a mental health assessment.
…
Current and prospective gun owners argue the permitting process is far too restrictive and a violation of constitutional rights.
“The people of the state of Hawaii have the right to keep and bear arms,” one gun ownership advocate said. “We have the right to own and carry for our protection. Just because you don’t like that doesn’t mean you have to slow down the process of exercising our gun rights.”
And let’s be clear here, they really are.
Let’s take mental health screenings, for an example. This is one of those things that might sound fine to a lot of people. After all, we don’t want crazy people buying guns, now do we? Yet what actually constitutes a disqualifying mental illness?
This is Hawaii, after all. This is the place that tried to deny someone a gun permit and take their lawfully owned firearms because they were homesick.
Do you really think they learned anything from that? Do you think that someone having mild depression or some slight anxiety issues isn’t going to find himself or herself denied a permit to purchase a firearm?
I mean, it’s possible they learned the error of their ways, but I haven’t really seen any signs of that in the least.
Further, these kinds of laws are being challenged all over the nation and, thus far, states aren’t being given a ton of reasons to feel confident that such laws are going to stand.
Hawaii can do what they’re going to do, or at least try to, but I expect they’ll be smacked down soon enough. They’re in the Ninth Circuit and California just got a setback. That suggests that there’s little reason for Hawaiian gun control to somehow sneak by.
Especially if they do it as stupidly as they’ve done a lot of their other gun control laws over the years.
Seriously, if I want to see how badly a state can screw up gun control–not just passing it but making it as stupid as humanly possible–I turn to the state of Hawaii.
This will be no different.
