AI-assisted research summary: Firearm arrivals and acquisitions must be registered quickly, with added checks, fingerprinting, and county-specific filing rules.
(a) Every person arriving in the State who brings or by any other manner causes to be brought into the State a firearm of any description, whether usable or unusable, serviceable or unserviceable, modern or antique, shall register the firearm within five days after arrival of the person or of the firearm, whichever arrives later, with the chief of police of the county of the person's place of business or, if there is no place of business, the person's residence or, if there is neither a place of business nor residence, the person's place of sojourn. A nonresident alien may bring firearms not otherwise prohibited by law into the State for a continuous period not to exceed ninety days; provided that the person meets the registration requirement of this section and the person possesses: (1) A valid Hawaii hunting license procured under chapter 183D, part II, or a commercial or private shooting preserve permit issued pursuant to section 183D-34; (2) A written document indicating the person has been invited to the State to shoot on private land; or (3) Written notification from a firing range or target shooting business indicating that the person will actually engage in target shooting. The nonresident alien shall be limited to a nontransferable registration of not more than ten firearms for the purpose of the above activities. Every person registering a firearm under this subsection shall be fingerprinted and photographed by the police department of the county of registration; provided that this requirement shall be waived where fingerprints and photographs are already on file with the police department. The police department shall perform an inquiry on the person by using the International Justice and Public Safety Network, including the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement query, the National Crime Information Center, and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, pursuant to section 846-2.7 before any determination to register a firearm is made. (b) Every person who acquires a firearm pursuant to section 134-2 shall register the firearm in the manner prescribed by this section within five days of acquisition. The registration shall be on forms prescribed by the attorney general, which shall be uniform throughout the State, and shall include the following information: name of the manufacturer and importer; model; type of action; caliber or gauge; serial number; and source from which receipt was obtained, including the name and address of the prior registrant. If the firearm has no serial number, the permit number shall be entered in the space provided for the serial number, and the permit number shall be engraved upon the receiver portion of the firearm prior to registration. All registration data that would identify the individual registering the firearm by name or address shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed to anyone, except as may be required: (1) For processing the registration; (2) For database management by the Hawaii criminal justice data center; (3) By a law enforcement agency for the lawful performance of its duties; or (4) By order of a court. (c) Dealers licensed under section 134-31 or dealers licensed by the United States Department of Justice shall register firearms pursuant to this section on registration forms prescribed by the attorney general and shall not be required to have the firearms physically inspected by the chief of police at the time of registration. (d) Registration shall not be required for: (1) Any device that is designed to fire loose black powder or that is a firearm manufactured before 1899; (2) Any device not designed to fire or made incapable of being readily restored to a firing condition; or (3) All unserviceable firearms and destructive devices registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms of the United States Department of Justice pursuant to Title 27, Code of Federal Regulations. (e) No fee shall be charged for the registration of a firearm under this section, except for a fee chargeable by and payable to the registering county for persons registering a firearm under subsection (a), in an amount equal to the fee charged by the Hawaii criminal justice data center pursuant to section 846-2.7. In the case of a joint registration, the fee provided for in this section may be charged to each person. [L 1988, c 275, pt of §2; am L 1994, c 204, §4; am L 1999, c 217, §2; am L 2007, c 9, §7; am L 2013, c 254, §2; am L 2016, c 108, §3]