Print This Article Hawaii Government Sued Over Restrictive Firearms Laws
Historiann.com
The non-profit Hawaii Defense Foundation president Christopher Baker has filed a lawsuit against the Honolulu Chief of Police Louis Kealoha, the Honolulu Police Department and the City & County of Honolulu as well as the State of Hawaii and Gov. Neil Abercrombie for violating the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
The complaint, which was filed in Hawaii's U.S. District Court by attorneys Richard Holcomb, Alan Beck and Kevin O’Grady, argues that Hawaii’s license to carry firearms statute as well as Hawaii's other firearm regulations, are unconstitutional.
Michelle Yu, spokesperson for the Honolulu Police Department, said the chief has no comment on the lawsuit.
Hawaii has some of the most restrictive gun policies in the country.
Hawaii is a "may issue" rather than "shall issue" state, which means that police chiefs that provide concealed and open carry firearms permits may issue them at will. This is different that shall issue states, where the government must provide concealed carry permits so long as the applicant passes all background checks and has no history of mental illness.
A total of 49 states have a concealed carry law with Illinois being the exception. Illinois has banned carrying of all concealed weapons including guns and knives. Wisconsin changed its law in July 2011 to allow concealed carry.
Baker said licenses to carry in Hawaii are only issued in “exceptional circumstance” or “where a need or urgency has been sufficiently indicated."
This language violates the Second Amendment, which secures the right of all responsible, law-abiding citizens to bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, he said.
The lawsuit also claims that the state's bad on non-lethal tools for self-defense such as electric guns is a violation of civil rights.
“The Second Amendment protects the right to self-defense. Everyday around the islands good people are robbed, assaulted, raped, or in the worst cases murdered. It’s simply a matter of physics, the Police can’t be everywhere to stop criminals from committing violent acts. We must be allowed to carry the tools that give us a chance to protect ourselves from harm,” Baker said. “We want criminals to have to think about the consequences of attacking someone,” he continued, “but right now, nothing serves as a deterrent to them - the odds are in their favor.”
The foundation, which was established as a mechanism to defend civil rights and offer educational courses on firearm safety, self-defense training, and life saving techniques, has launched a fundraising effort to support the litigation.
More information on the web (www.TheHDF.org).
Short URL: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=38997
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Kudos to the brave young folks who are spearheading this effort to force Hawaii to acknowledge the foundational human right to self defense. It takes an unfathomable amount of time and energy, not to mention financial resources, to bring something like this off. If you're a supporter, you might consider a donation to HDF, as this fight is not likely to end here...
Would you rather be the next person beaten to death at a bus stop for no reason at all? Are you so confident in your mma jiu-jitsu tae-bo, that you know you can stop someone half your age and high on meth from stabbing you with a screwdriver?
It is about TIME. I am so tired of the “buddy-buddy system” as well as the "who you know" to get what you want. Hawai’i is a "May issue" state which in my opinion that means a “May uphold the Constitution” state or “May ALLOW citizens to have rights” state. I can imagine who MAY have been issued a permit – Perhaps, the chiefs entire family. Why? To ensure THEIR safety and capability to defend themselves. Unfortunately, for the rest of us who want to carry and embrace our constitutional RIGHTS to protect ourselves and OUR families. As stated, the citizens that want to carry have to undergo background checks of every aspect to ensure we will not use our firearm outside of anything that is a life or death situation. Mental Health, background check and whatever else they so choose to research, but MOST IMPORTANTLY have proof that we have taken a Firearm Safety Training course. Not only that but in other states you are less likely to be raped, horribly beaten, robbed, etc. due to the fact that the majority of criminals never know if you carry or not. The one's throwing around terms such as who has the power in the situation MIGHT want to think about the situation as a whole, and why power (for better words, who has the upper hand) in any situation would matter and what was the cause. This instance is typically spoken by ones that WILL try to harm or steal from you if they can- however if I was carrying my firearm their POWER and PLANS of doing so would be intercepted and the criminal action wouldn’t have occurred. To me, the person carrying didn't have POWER, they had protection. Those that do have permits to own are REGISTERED in the individual’s name. That being said, WHY would anyone misuse or abuse their firearm/weapon knowing it would be traced directly back to them? Highly unlikely and an ignorant statement to say the least. WHY would a criminal, sex offender or drug addict use their firearm for POWER to rob you, rape you or brutally beat you? Because they CAN and obviously if a gun is involved I’m quite sure it isn’t registered or if it is registered, it’s not registered to THEM. I don't see how HPD cannot see the obvious. When it comes to the example of tempers flaring or arguments which would cause an increase in injuries or deaths if Concealed Carry were implemented makes absolutely NO SENSE, if someone has THAT bad of a temper, they wouldn't pass the Mental Health Check OR the Criminal background check much less both. Individuals such as these are THE obvious threat to our innocent law-abiding citizens. It is bad enough if one person attacks you, but doesn't ever seem the case. There are too many gangs out there and it's never one on one, its victim vs 10 others. I am a single mother and I am the protector of my family. I feel like my constitutional rights to protect my family has been taken away from me; and if something WERE to happen to my family that could have ended differently because I was LEGALLY carrying my firearm – that’s just sad for the State of Hawai’i. People will and can state the “What-if’s” all day long, but the time wasted thinking about that should be researching the states that do have Concealed or Open Carry into effect and the positive statistics – that may answer some of their “What if” questions. As stated previously this is long overdue. I’m tired of living in fear.
[...] Hawaii Reporter var staf_confirmtext = 'Mail sent' #stafBlock { position:relative; display:none; [...]
[...] Hawaii has joined the list of states facing lawsuits over restrictive gun regulations filed on the basis of 2nd Amendment violations last week, according to the Hawaii Reporter. [...]
[...] article was written by STAFF; full article at the HAWAII REPORTER [...]
In most states within the continental United State, Hawaii in the gun world is known as the "communist state" for allowing a very few to dictate how we will "will not" protect ourselves & our families. Asking why we the people of Hawaii have not band together and fight for our Constitutional Rights, thus becoming a "REAL DEMOCRACY".