Safe Storage
Hawaii prohibits persons from storing firearms on property they control unless the owner:
- Secures the firearm in a locked box or other container such as a gun safe, or by using a properly engaged tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other tamper-resistant safety device that renders the firearm inoperable by any person other than the owner or lawfully authorized user;
- Stores the firearm in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure;
- The firearm is carried on the person or within such close proximity thereto that the person readily can retrieve and use it as if it were carried on the person.1
Any person violating the statute is punished with a fine, unless they are convicted of criminally negligent storage of a firearm, as explained under Child Access Prevention below. In addition to a fine, violation of this section carries strict liability if the firearm is obtained by an unauthorized user and subsequently used to injure a person or property for a period of two years from the date of the violation.
Child Access Prevention
Under state law, a person commits the misdemeanor offense of “criminally negligent storage of a firearm” when:
- The person violates Hawaii’s Secure Storage law;2
- The person knew or reasonably should have known that a minor is likely to gain access to the fierarm without the permission of the parent or guardian of the minor; and
- a minor obtains a firearm.3
If the minor obtains the firearm as a result of unlawful entry to any premises by any person, the owner of the firearm is not criminally liable.4
Hawaii does not require a locking device to accompany the sale of a firearm, although federal law applies. The state does, however, require gun dealers to provide firearm purchasers with copies of § 134-10.5.
MEDIA REQUESTS
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