Hawaii

Hawaii gun laws hit target
“I believe Hawaii is a model for the rest of the country,” said state Rep. Nadine Nakamura. “We have one of the lowest gun-related deaths (rates) among all 50 states due to many factors.”

Well, I’m glad to here that your state is such a crime-free paradise. And how did you manage that?

Those factors include the low rate of gun ownership, strong gun control laws and firearm permit issuing, a gun safety education requirement, and mental health affidavit with medical record accessibility being required at the time of registration.

“Hawaii also has a 14- to 20-day waiting period, (and) bans handgun magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and semi-automatic handguns with certain features,” Nakamura said.
[…]
Fully automatic firearms, shotguns with barrels less than 18 inches long, and rifles with barrels less than 16 inches long are prohibited by state law.
[…]
Permits are valid in the issuing county only, and Hawaii does not recognize concealed carry permits issued by other states.

“Currently, all firearm buyers must undergo a criminal background check, a mental health background check and subject themselves to active monitoring on an FBI-sponsored crime database,” Bryant said.
[…]
All firearms, including those brought into the state by new residents, must be registered.

That’s… draconian. Still, they say it paid off.

Sort of.

Let’s compare darned gun-free Hawaii to another state. Hawaii has a population of 1,428,557, so I’ll run with New Hampshire, which is close at 1,334,795 (2016 numbers). New Hampshire is also a good test of the effectiveness of those victim disarmament laws because it’s the virtual polar opposite of Hawaii: high rate of firearms ownership, CCW licenses available (shall issue) but not required to concealed or open carry, background checks only when purchasing from an FFL, no registration, NFA items are allowed, no weapon-type bans, no magazine limits, no waiting periods, CCW reciprocity is moot because visitors don’t need licenses either, no specific mental health check, and the cops don’t get to read your medical records without a warrant.

New Hampshire must be a crime-infested hell, right?

Well…

Crime Rates per 100K (2016)
Violent Crime Property Crime Murder
Hawaii 309.2 2992.7 2.5
New Hampshire 197.6 1512.9 1.3

Oops.

Hawaii ranks 30th in violent crime. New Hampshire ranks… 48th.

Hawaii ranks 8th(!) in property crime. New Hampshire ranks… 50th.

Hawaii ranks 41st in murder. New Hampshire ranks… 50th again; go figure.

I’ve never been to Hawaii, and don’t want to. I used to live in New Hampshire. Other than winter, it’s a nice place. The road I lived on had several shooting ranges; roughly 1 in 3 houses had a range, possibly more.

Everybody didn’t open carry, but it wasn’t all that unusual. I often did, and offhand I only recall three times someone said something. 1) A woman from Taxachusettswas  outraged that I carried a gun in the grocery store. I told her that based on the statistics, I was more worried about her killing someone with her car, than me having to shoot someone. She rushed to the front of the store, presumably to warn the manager that an armed man was in there. Since I’m not the only person who open carried in there I was unsurprised when nothing happened.

2) A little boy whose family moved in down the road asked why I had a gun. I started listing the wildlife in the area — starting with the ubiquitous bears. I told him that I’d probably never need it, but it’s like a fire extinguisher.

3) I was headed to the mailbox when the guy running the local police department drove by. He stopped to chat. He glanced at my gun and said, “I’m glad to see that. I wish more people would carry.”

Hawaii regulates the heck out of what firearms they even allow, yet has significantly higher crimes rates than heavily armed New Hampshire.

I think the real difference is the people, not the laws. And if all those laws are holding down crime rates in Hawaii, what the heck are the people like?

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3 thoughts on “Hawaii”

  1. Hmm, well, barry claims he came from Hawaii, so must be something evil in the water there. I’m with you Comrade X, no Hawaii on my vacation plans. I’d rather go someplace a little safer, like Israel.

  2. BINGO!!!:
    “I think the real difference is the people, not the laws.”

    That there is an ILLEGAL statement as declared by POLITICAL CORRECTNESS DOCTRINE. All sorts of racist lines of thought grow out of even thinking of looking at RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE behind statistics!

    IT IS NOT THE PEOPLE! – IT IS THE GUNS!
    OUTLAW THE GUNS!
    NEVER TIE “PEOPLE” INTO THE EQUATION!

    Thus – it is never GANG violence – it is always GUN violence.
    The goal is to ban GUNS – not gangs.

    NEVER AGAIN!
    What does that statement mean?
    I ask – I am met with blank stares, a fist pounding the table, and “never again” repeated back to me. “We will never let it happen again”.
    How will you stop it? Do you mean WE HOPE NOT??!??
    YOU VOTE FOR POLITICIANS THAT ARE DISARMING CITIZENS!
    NEVER AGAIN!
    WE WILL NEVER LET A GOVERNMENT DISARM US AGAIN!
    WE WILL NEVER BE DISARMED AND VULNERABLE TO IT AGAIN!
    THIS LINE OF THOUGHT NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT – OR RE-TAUGHT
    BECAUSE THE CURRENT STATE OF MIND IS VOTING THE NEXT NAZIS BACK INTO POWER!

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