The best thing that can happen to gun control laws is that they just die in the legislature. While anti-gunners obviously disagree, the reality is that any lawmaker can introduce any bit of insanity they want, and if they can convince enough of their colleagues that it's a good idea, it becomes a law that has to then be challenged in court, taking years to be eventually tossed, and creating headaches for everyone impacted.
In Hawaii, a notoriously anti-gun state, a number of bills just met the only noble end for them as the legislature adjourned.
And honestly, some of these are actually surprising that they didn't get passed.
On Friday, May 8th, the Hawaii State Legislature adjourned sine die from the 2026 legislative session. A number of anti-gun bills were introduced and debated but all were ultimately defeated when the legislature came to a close.
Anti-gun bills defeated this session include:
House Bill 2062 would have directed taxpayer dollars toward "public awareness campaigns" promoting Hawaii's red flag laws while also appropriating funds to the judiciary for the "efficient processing" of anticipated increased GVRO caseloads.
Senate Bill 2503 would have appropriated funds for the state’s gun buyback program, including at least two gun buyback events in each county.
Senate Bill 2517 would have negatively affected Hawaii's already unconstitutional red flag laws, raising serious due process concerns by imposing automatic felony penalties without full evidentiary hearings for "Gun Violence Protection Orders."
Other bills, including one that would elevate the possession of ammo while under a red flag order from a misdemeanor to a felony, which would be problematic due to the nature of red flag laws, also failed to cross the finish line. Another would have added those convicted of misdemeanor trespassing on agricultural land to the prohibited list, and one that would have created a Firearm Injury Restitution Fund paid for by fees to firearm manufacturers who want to sell guns in the state.
The two above are surprising in that they didn't pass. Those seemed to be obviously something the legislature would want to see happen, and yet, they didn't. I doubt they're dead forever, though. They'll come back next session, without a doubt in my mind, but for now, they simply didn't happen, and that's a bit of good news for everyone there.
As is the fact that some of these other measures didn't make it.
Seriously, trespassing? I get that trespassing on farm land can include things like poaching, and some folks have been killed by these trespassers, but it's still just trespassing. Let folks shoot the trespassers who point a gun at them, and suddenly, the issue becomes moot. That might not be part of the Aloha Spirit (TM), but that's kind of the point.
I'd love to commend Hawaii for having some good sense for a change, but I can't lie to myself enough to believe that any lack of movement on these bills is for some pro-gun reason. No one looked at these measures and thought, "No, that's going too far, even for me." No, they probably just didn't have time, or they were trying to teach the sponsors a lesson because of some other issue. That's it.
Still, take what you can get, right?
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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