In response to a lawsuit settled last year, Honolulu has launched an online portal for the registration of firearms. The case, Yukutake v. Connors involved challenging both the 10 day permit validation time-frame and requirement for in person inspection of arms by the police. The issue was that someone seeking to purchase and obtain a firearm would need to make several trips to the police station in order to complete the process. Often times people seeking a firearm permit and to register any purchased arms would have to take time off from work several days to exercise this fundamental right. An opinion I reported on in August of 2021 struck down several of the provisions of Honolulu’s policies. Due to that opinion, the officials in Honolulu have launched the portal which went live recently.

From a social media post from Hawaii Firearms Coalition:

Aloha freedom-loving people, it’s the end of the year, and with that, we bring you more great news.

Honolulu Police Department has finally got their registration website up and running. This, in combination with the settlement agreement in Yukutake v. Connors, means that on Oahu, you can obtain a firearm with a single trip to the police station.

HPD’s policy has (for some time) been to mail rifle permits to the applicant (ask how at time of application). Now they will also mail pistol permits directly to the seller. This means you can pick up your pistol without going to the police station to pick it up the permit yourself.

By eliminating the trip to pick up a permit and the trip to register firearms, Hawaii Firearms Coalition and its attorneys (Attorney Alan Beck) have reduced the process down to a single day, saving gun owners a significant amount of time and money.

The post also outlines the steps residents will have to take in order to complete the process of obtaining a firearm.

The process for obtaining a firearm on Oahu is now;

1) Apply for your permit (ONLY TRIP TO POLICE STATION)

2) Wait 14-20 days for your permit to be mailed to you or the seller

3) Pick up your firearm

4) Go home and register online.

Even assuming that registration is permissible, there is no reason that people should be forced to take time off work just to exercise a fundamental right. Especially, when the process can be computerized. I am glad my co-counsel Stephen Stambolieh and I were able to help bring Hawaii into the modern era.

While we are not 100% of the way there to being free of the entire permitting and registration process, but this is a significant step in the right direction. Hopefully, with the upcoming supreme court ruling in the NYPRA case, we will be given a better framework for second amendment cases that will allow us to go after more of these infringements.