Post by jgbryant on Mar 8, 2017 9:53:29 GMT -10
It saddens me to see a bill like this further attack law abiding citizens. Currently, acquiring a permit to purchase a firearms in the state of Hawaii is near one of the most stringent processes in the USA.
I urge you to read the bill. The underlined sections in the very beginning of the proposed changes. See the bill at www.captiol.hawaii.gov/session2017/bills/SB898_SD2_.htm
My interpretations of the Bill are as follows. HRS 134 will be modified to allow a judge to issue a public safety warrant which would prohibit an existing firearms owner's (only impacts legal firearms owners) right to own firearms. Additionally, the bill would allow the public safety warrant to enable law enforcement to confiscate an existing firearms owner registered firearms.
This bill does not impact illegally possessed firearms as a warrant can't be issues to confiscate a firearm that is not registered.
The amount of evidence required for the issuance of the public safety warrant is as simple as getting a law enforcement agent to give a statement based on his / her perceived public risk a law abiding citizen presents.
Once the law abiding citizen has been served the public safety warrant a hearing must occur to make the decision permanent, like a protection order hearing after getting served a TRO. BTW, a TRO process already exists for some one who acts in a fashion that makes other folks perceive harm or danger. So the justification of SB898 is mute.
If for some reason a Judge upholds the warrant the law abiding citizen will permanently lose his / her firearms and ammunition to the Police Department along with losing the right to sell or transfer his / her firearms. This means that SB 898 removes a persons chance to sell or transfer his / her firearms upon disqualification which is already protected under HRS-134.
In all, SB898 relaxes due process and replaces a Constitutional Right with a semi-quasi hearing with no conviction necessary. SB898 also allows for law enforcement to confiscate a law abiding citizen's firearms and permanently keep them without even being convicted of any crime.
In all honesty this bill would give drug dealers have more rights than firearms owners. Where is the justice now?