If you thought the process of obtaining a gun permit or weapons license where you live was onerous, imagine living in America’s 50th state, where ZERO gun permits have been issued to residents dating back to at least 2006.
What state are we talking about?
You guessed it: Hawaii.
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According to WestHawaiiToday.com:
On the Big Island, 66 applications were filed with Hawaii Police Department Chief Harry Kubojiri since 2006, none were granted. Since 2009, 12 appeals were pursued, none was successful.
“All applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. We cannot speak in generalities or give examples as each situation is different. Why none issued? We are in pending litigation at this time; although Peruta appears dispositive (settled), we have been advised not to comment on actual procedures at this time,” Kubojiri wrote in a letter to West Hawaii Today.
[…]
Hawaii law specifies that “in an exceptional case, when an applicant shows reason to fear injury to the applicant’s person or property, the chief of police of the appropriate county may grant a license to an applicant,” subject to additional restrictions such as citizenship and criminal history.
Dr. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center noted that Hawaii was the only state not to issue any permit in 2016:
“All other states have issued permits . . . The next lowest state is New Jersey with about 1,200 permits, but half of those are issued to judges and retired police officers. Even D.C. last year had 74 permits for civilians being able to carry.”
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Local gun rights activists know exactly how ridiculous and authoritarian the gun laws are in Hawaii.
The Freebeacon.com quotes local activist, George Pace:
George Pace, a local gun-rights activist, said the system is impossible to navigate. “
They do not issue licenses (by the last chief’s own admission, as far as he knew there has never been a license issued in this county), so a person is wasting their time and money going through the ‘process,'” he said.
“People have reportedly even been told as they turn in their paperwork to the clerks ‘You will not get a license’ without them even reading the application (i.e., there is no such thing as ‘an exceptional case’, no matter what you write on there), and of course the official records bear that out.”
“It’s preposterous.”
Despite the difficulty of getting a permit and buying firearms in Hawaii, there are some gun stores and ranges:
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This local Hawaii resident explains just how difficult it is to be a gun owners in Hawaii:
They even have gun shows every now and then:
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