ARS Applauds Hawaii’s House of Representatives for Advancing Commonsense, Bipartisan Bills to Keep Guns Out of the Wrong Hands, Urge Senate to Follow House’s Lead and Act

March 9, 2016 – Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, the Co-Founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions, today applauded leaders in the Hawaii House of Representatives for passing two commonsense bills to close dangerous loopholes in Hawaii law that let known or suspected terrorists and people with misdemeanor stalking and sexual assault convictions legally purchase guns. Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly also urged the Hawaii Senate to follow the House’s lead and send the the proposals to Governor Ige’s desk.

Authored by Representative Karl Rhoads, HB 1813 closes the loophole in current federal law that allows known or suspected terrorists in Hawaii to pass a background check and legally purchase a firearm.

House Bill 625, which was authored by Representative Chris Lee, closes the loophole in federal law that lets people with misdemeanor stalking or sexual assault convictions to legally buy a gun.

“Last night, leaders in Hawaii’s House of Representatives did the responsible thing and came together to keep guns out of the wrong hands and make Hawaii a safer place to live. It makes absolutely no sense that right now in Hawaii, a known or suspected terrorist or convicted stalker can pass a background check and buy a gun. So we applaud Representative Rhoads and Representative Lee for their leadership in authoring and helping move these commonsense, responsible proposals forward” said Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly. “These proposals recognize that our leaders can take steps to protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners like us and keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. We look forward to seeing the Hawaii Senate pass these responsible bills in strong, bipartisan vote for common sense and seeing them sent to the Governor Ige’s desk.”