SB174

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	174
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

Relating to firearms ammunition.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that requiring firearms permits is an effective way of minimizing unlawful possession and use of firearms. The legislature further finds that the ammunition used in firearms is what renders firearms dangerous, yet there are few state regulations with regards to the sale of ammunition. Specifically, Hawai‘i does not require a license for the sale of ammunition, nor does it require a permit to purchase or possess ammunition. The legislature finds that this oversight can be addressed by requiring:

(1) Licensure of sellers of ammunition; and

(2) Gun owners or their alternate to show their firearms registration and identification when purchasing ammunition for the permitted firearms.

SECTION 2. Chapter 134, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§134- Ammunition purchase; proof of registration; exception. (a) No person shall sell ammunition or shell casings for any firearm unless the purchaser first demonstrates that the purchaser:

(1) Is the registered owner of the firearm for which the ammunition or shell casings are to be purchased; or

(2) Has been designated by the registered owner of the firearm as the alternate for ammunition purchases on the registration pursuant to section 134-3.

Presentation to the seller of the registration issued pursuant to section 134-3, together with government-issued photographic identification, such as a driver's license, a civil identification card issued pursuant to part XVI of chapter 286, a military identification card, or a United States passport, shall be sufficient to demonstrate that the purchaser is the registered owner of the firearm for which the ammunition is to be purchased or the designated alternate. For online purchases, a scanned copy of the registration and identification shall be sufficient for compliance with this section. For the purposes of this section, the chief of police of each county may provide duplicates of the registration document or the same information in a format to be determined by the chief of police of each county.

(b) Violation of this section is a petty misdemeanor.

SECTION 3. Section 134-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§134-3 Registration, mandatory, exceptions. (a) Every resident or other 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 and submit to physical inspection 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 [no] 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. Any person attempting to register a firearm, a firearm receiver, or the parts used to assemble a firearm, and who is found to be disqualified from ownership, possession, or control of firearms or ammunition under section 134-7, shall surrender or dispose of all firearms and ammunition pursuant to section 134-7.3.

(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. If the firearm is acquired from a person who is not a dealer licensed under section 134-31 or a dealer licensed by the United States Department of Justice, the firearm shall be physically inspected by the chief of police of the appropriate county or designee at the time of registration. The registration of all firearms 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. The registration form shall also include a place for the registrant to designate one alternate person authorized to purchase ammunition. If the firearm has been assembled from separate parts and an unfinished firearm receiver, the entity that registered the firearm receiver shall be recorded in the space provided for the name of the manufacturer and importer, and the phrase "assembled from parts" shall be recorded in the space provided for model. If the firearm has been assembled from parts created using a three-dimensional printer, the entity that registered the firearm receiver shall be recorded in the space provided for the name of the manufacturer and importer, and the phrase "3-D printer" shall be recorded in the space provided for model. If the firearm has no serial number, the registration number shall be entered in the space provided for the serial number, and the registration number shall be engraved upon the receiver portion of the firearm before registration. On firearms assembled from parts created using a three-dimensional printer, the registration number shall be engraved on stainless steel, permanently embedded to the firearm receiver during fabrication or construction, and visible when the firearm is assembled. Firearms and firearm receivers with engraved or embedded registration numbers, even if done by a dealer licensed under section 134-31 or a dealer licensed by the United States Department of Justice, shall be physically inspected by the chief of police of the appropriate county or designee at the time of 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, except as provided in subsection (b). An authorized dealer, as provided in section 134-31, or a dealer licensed by the United States Department of Justice, who brings, assembles, or causes to be brought into the State by any other means, separate parts and an unfinished firearm receiver that when assembled create a firearm, or parts created by a three-dimensional printer that when assembled create a firearm, shall register the unfinished firearm receiver and receive a serial number before the assembly of the firearm or the sale or transfer of unassembled firearm parts or a receiver to a third party in accordance with subsection (b). Any sale or transfer of unfinished firearm receivers by an authorized dealer to a third party shall be conducted as if they were fully assembled firearms with a serial number engraved on the firearm receiver and in accordance with the firearms permitting process in section 134-2.

(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, Firearms and Explosives of the United States Department of Justice pursuant to Title 27, Code of Federal Regulations.

(e) Every person who permanently moves firearms out of the State shall contact and notify the county police department in the county where the firearms are registered about the removal of the firearms within five days of the removal from the State. Any person who fails to timely notify the appropriate police department shall be subject to a civil penalty of $100 per firearm.

(f) 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.

(g) A registered owner of a firearm may designate on the firearm registration one alternate person to be authorized to purchase ammunition.

(h) A registered owner of a firearm may be issued a permit to purchase ammunition of a caliber that is not the caliber listed on the registered firearm by demonstrating to the police department in the registering county that the firearm is capable of firing a caliber of ammunition that is not the caliber listed on the registration of the firearm. The permit shall designate which caliber of ammunition the firearm is capable of firing. The registered owner of the firearm or their alternate person designated under subsection (g) may purchase ammunition, pursuant to section 134- , that is the caliber designated under this subsection.

[~~(g)~~] (i) No person less than twenty-one years of age shall bring or cause to be brought into the State any firearm."

SECTION 4. Section 134-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending its title to read:

"§134-4 Transfer, possession of firearms[.] and ammunition."

2. By amending subsection (b) to read:

"(b) No person shall possess any firearm or ammunition that is owned by another, regardless of whether the owner has consented to possession of the firearm[,] or ammunition therefor, without a permit from the chief of police of the appropriate county, except as provided in subsection (c) and section 134-5."

3. By amending subsection (d) to read:

"(d) No person shall intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly lend a firearm or transfer ammunition to any person who is prohibited from ownership, possession, or control of a firearm under section 134-7."

SECTION 5. Section 134-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§134-31 License to sell and manufacture firearms[;] and ammunition; fee. Any person desiring to engage in the business to sell and manufacture firearms or ammunition for sale in the State either at wholesale or retail, shall annually file an application for a license therefor with the director of finance of each county of the State. The annual fee for the issuance of such license shall be $10 and shall be payable to said director of finance. A license issued [~~hereunder~~] under this section shall expire on June 30 next following the date of issuance of the license unless sooner terminated. Application for renewal of license shall be filed on or before June 30 of each year."

SECTION 6. Section 134-32, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§134-32 License to sell and manufacture firearms[;] and ammunition; conditions. Every license issued pursuant to this part shall be issued and shall be regarded as having been accepted by the licensee subject to the following conditions:

(1) That the licensee at all times shall comply with all provisions of law relative to the sale of firearms[.] and ammunition;

(2) That the license during any time of national emergency or crisis, as defined in section 134-34, may be canceled or suspended[.];

(3) That all firearms or ammunition in the possession and control of any licensee at any time of national emergency or crisis, as defined in section 134-34, may be seized and held in possession or purchased by or on the order of the governor until such time as the national emergency or crisis has passed, or until such time as the licensee and the government of the United States or the government of the State may agree upon some other disposition of the same[.];

(4) That all firearms or ammunition in the possession and control of the licensee or registered pursuant to section 134-3(c) by the licensee shall be subject to physical inspection by the chief of police of each county during normal business hours at the licensee's place of business[.]; and

(5) That the license may be revoked for a violation of any of the conditions of this section."

SECTION 7. Section 134-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§134-33 Punishment for violations of section 134-32. Any person who manufactures or sells any firearms or ammunition within the State without having a valid license so to do, or who being a holder of a license violates any of the terms or conditions of the same, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or imprisoned not less than three months nor more than one year[.]; provided that this section shall not apply to a registered owner of firearms who manufactures ammunition for personal use for the firearms registered in the registered owner's name."

SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Ammunition; Purchase; Transfer; License to Sell

Description:

Requires the licensing of sellers of ammunition, and for the identification and proper permitting of purchasers or possessors of ammunition. Regulates ammunition in the same manner that firearms are regulated.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.

SB 174: RELATING TO FIREARMS AMMUNITION.

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