Report Title:

Prohibiting Persons With Restraining Orders From Transferring Titles of Firearms

Description:

Precludes owners of firearms who have a restraining order against them from transferring title of the firearm to another person.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2442

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to firearms.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that in the last five years in Hawaii, approximately one-third of all domestic-violence murders were committed using a firearm. Police have reported that those domestic-violence offenders who are no longer able to possess a firearm simply transfer title of their weapon to another person, allowing offenders to technically comply yet still maintain continued access to the firearm.

Nearly seventy-five per cent of domestic-violence murders occur when the victim is leaving or has left the relationship. Thus allowing a domestic-violence offender any access to firearms places the victim in greater risk of injury or death. Although domestic-violence murders involving firearms are extensively publicized, firearms are more commonly used to terrorize and threaten victims. This type of violence occurs on a daily basis devastating many lives as well.

The purpose of this Act is to prohibit persons with current restraining orders against them from transferring the title of a firearm to another person, and requiring the firearms to be stored by the police.

SECTION 2. Section 134-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:

"(f) No person who has been restrained pursuant to an order of any court, including an ex parte order as provided in this subsection, from contacting, threatening, or physically abusing any person, shall possess or control any firearm or ammunition therefor, so long as the protective order or any extension is in effect, unless the order, for good cause shown, specifically permits the possession of a firearm and ammunition. The restraining order or order of protection shall specifically include a statement that possession or control of a firearm or ammunition by the person named in the order is prohibited. Such person shall relinquish possession and control of any firearm and ammunition owned by that person to the police department of the appropriate county for safekeeping for the duration of the order or extension thereof. In the case of an ex parte order, the affidavit or statement under oath that forms the basis for the order shall contain a statement of the facts that support a finding that the person to be restrained owns, intends to obtain, or possesses a firearm, and that the firearm may be used to threaten, injure, or abuse any person. The ex parte order shall be effective upon service pursuant to section 586-6. At the time of service of a restraining order involving firearms and ammunition issued by any court, the police officer may take custody of any and all firearms and ammunition in plain sight, those discovered pursuant to a consensual search, and those firearms surrendered by the person restrained. If the person restrained is the registered owner of a firearm and knows the location of the firearm but refuses to surrender the firearm or refuses to disclose the location of the firearm, the person restrained shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. In any case, when a police officer is unable to locate the firearms and ammunition either registered under this chapter or known to the person granted protection by the court, the police officer shall apply to the court for a search warrant pursuant to chapter 803 for the limited purpose of seizing the firearm and ammunition.

For the purposes of this subsection, good cause shall not be based solely upon the consideration that the person subject to restraint pursuant to an order of any court, including an ex parte order as provided for in this subsection, is required to possess or carry firearms or ammunition during the course of their employment. Good cause consideration may include, but not be limited to, the protection and safety of the person to whom a restraining order is granted.

Any person relinquishing possession of a firearm under this subsection shall not transfer ownership of any firearm to another until the person is allowed to possess a firearm, but shall relinquish control to the police department as provided in this section.

(g) [Any] Except as provided in subsection (f), any person disqualified from ownership, possession, or control of firearms and ammunition under this section shall surrender or dispose of all firearms and ammunition in compliance with section 134-7.3."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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