Gun Laws in Hawaii
Gun Friendliness Score
How We Calculate Gun Friendliness Scores
The Gun Friendliness Score ranges from 0 to 100 and represents how favorable a state's laws are toward gun ownership and use. We evaluate each state across 50 key gun policies, assigning points based on how these policies affect gun owners:
- Policies that support gun rights, reduce restrictions, or expand legal protections for gun owners receive positive points
- Policies that restrict firearm ownership, limit purchase options, or add regulatory burdens receive negative points
Hawaii's low score of 12 reflects the state's restrictive permit requirements, waiting periods, limited reciprocity, strict magazine capacity restrictions, and comprehensive regulatory system for firearm ownership.
Hawaii Gun Laws Summary
Hawaii has among the most restrictive gun laws in the United States. The state requires permits for all firearm purchases and possession, has a comprehensive registration system, and imposes numerous limitations on the types of firearms that residents can legally own.
Hawaii is a may-issue state for concealed carry permits, making it extremely difficult for ordinary citizens to obtain permission to carry firearms in public. County police chiefs have broad discretion to deny applications if they determine an applicant is not of "good moral character" or does not show an "exceptional case" or "reason to fear injury" to person or property. As a result, very few permits are issued to ordinary civilians.
Since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen, Hawaii has revised its concealed carry laws, but the state's requirements remain among the most restrictive in the nation. Hawaii does not recognize concealed carry permits from any other state, and the process to obtain a Hawaii permit includes extensive background checks, mandatory training, psychological evaluation, and significant fees.
Permitting, Sales and Transfers
Hawaii requires permits to purchase any firearm. All prospective gun owners must obtain a Permit to Acquire from their county police department, which requires a background check, fingerprinting, and a 14-day waiting period. Separate permits are required for handguns and long guns.
All firearms must be registered with the county police department within 5 days of acquisition. Private sales and transfers must follow the same permitting process, with no exceptions for family transfers. All firearm purchases and transfers are recorded in a comprehensive state registry maintained by law enforcement.
Firearms in Public and in the Home
Hawaii severely restricts carrying firearms in public. Concealed carry permits are rarely issued to ordinary citizens, and open carry is prohibited for non-law enforcement. Hawaii's may-issue system gives county police chiefs broad discretion to deny permits, even after the Supreme Court's Bruen ruling led to revisions in state law.
Open carry is effectively prohibited for civilians. To legally possess a firearm outside one's home or business, an individual must have a License to Carry, which can be either a concealed or open carry license. These licenses are exceptionally difficult to obtain. For those few who might qualify, Hawaii requires completion of a firearms training course, a thorough background check, mental health screening, and payment of various fees. The license must be renewed annually, requiring much of the same process each time.
Firearm, Feature and Accessory Bans
Hawaii prohibits the possession of assault pistols, assault shotguns, and assault rifles as defined by state law. There is a 10-round magazine capacity limit for all firearms. NFA items including short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and machine guns are prohibited for civilian ownership. Hawaii also bans bump stocks and other rapid-fire modification devices. "Ghost guns" and unserialized firearms are prohibited, including those made with 3D printers or assembled from parts.
Local Laws
Hawaii has a complex system where counties handle the administration of state firearm laws. While state law establishes the framework for gun regulations, county police departments administer permits, registration, and licenses to carry. This creates a situation where implementation may vary slightly between counties, though the fundamental restrictions remain consistent throughout the state. Hawaii does not have strong preemption laws, allowing counties some discretion in how they implement state firearm regulations.
2025 Gun Law Checklist
Hawaii Gun Policy Profile: 50 Key Legislative Points
Purchasing and Sales Regulations
Background Check for Any Firearm Sale
State requires any firearm sale to go through a licensed dealer (FFL) and be subject to a background check. (Federal law requires those "engaged in the business" of buying/selling firearms to perform a background check during a sale). A private sale or transfer of any firearm between individuals (non-family members) must be also conducted through an FFL.
Background Check for Any Handgun Sale (Including Private Sales)
All handgun sales and most transfers are subject to a background check. Private sales of handguns between individuals (non-family members) must be conducted through an FFL.
Background Check Extensions
State will halt the transfer of a firearm if a background check is delayed. Some states will halt the process indefinitely, some for a set amount of time.
Failed Background Check Reported to Law Enforcement
The firearm dealer (or state agency conducting the background check) has a responsibility to notify local law enforcement of a failed background check.
Must be 21 or Older to Purchase
Most firearms–including rifles, shotguns, and handguns–cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 21. (Federal laws permit long guns to be sold to those over the age of 18.)
Permit to Purchase
State requires a permit (single-use or renewable) for all firearms or specifically for handguns. States typically charge a fee for the permit and a background check is performed during the application.
Mandatory Waiting Periods
Prior to purchasing a firearm, an individual must wait a specified period (typically between 3-14 days) between initiating the purchase and taking possession of the firearm.
State Licenses All Gun Dealers
State has a licensing system for firearms merchants above and beyond the federal (FFL) system.
Purchase Rejected for Public Safety Reasons
State officials able to block sales of firearms if the purchaser is deemed to be a threat to themselves or to public safety (according to the judgment of the official)
Approved Handgun Roster
State controls what make and model handguns are sold; according to their own criteria. Often, this involves a "roster" of approved handguns with the right "safety" features, such as a loaded chamber indicator, or even the amount of metal in the firearm (Maryland). Often, LE are exempt from these requirements.
Strict Unfinished Frames and Receivers Laws
State sets a lower threshold for unfinished frames and receivers (beyond ATF rule 2021R-05F). Includes ban on 3D-printing of these parts in some states.
Ownership and Registration Requirements
Permit to Possess
Several states require a permit just to possess: a handgun (New York); any firearms or ammunition (Illinois).
State Firearm or Handgun Registry
State keeps a record of every firearm or handgun sold. Includes states with a permit to purchase and states that keep records of purchases.
Mandatory Firearms Training
Prior to purchasing a firearm, an individual must prove they completed the state ordered training. Often, this is part of the application process for a Permit to Purchase.
Secure Storage Requirement
Gun owners must lock up firearms in the home (or anywhere else a minor or prohibited person may have access).
Magazine Capacity Limits
State limits magazine capacity for some or all firearms.
"Assault Weapons" Ban
Magazine fed, semi-automatic, centerfire rifles cannot have other "features" (pistol grip, flash hider, etc.) or they are considered "assault weapons." New guns cannot be registered as "assault weapons." Possession is prohibited with limited exceptions.
Microstamping Law
State has a law banning the sale of a new pistol unless its firing can imprint its serial number somewhere on the cartridge case during firing. This technology is make-believe at present, but these laws will effectively ban the sale of new handguns in the state if/when they become effective
Penalties for Not Reporting a Lost or Stolen Firearm
Gun owners must report the loss or theft of firearms–usually within several days of the incident or first discovering the loss–or potentially face a criminal penalty.
Carry and Location Restrictions
Mandatory Permit for Concealed Carry
State requires a permit to carry a concealed pistol. This includes all states that "may issue" a permit (where officials may deny a permit for subjective reasons).
Officials Can Deny Carry Permit
State allows the carry permit officials to deny an application based on the state's own criteria.
Open Carry Limited or Banned
State restricts open carry to rifles and shotguns or bans open carry completely unless you are LE or special permit holder.
No Carry Mandate for College Campuses
State has not passed a blanket law permitting concealed carry on college campuses.
Gun Ban on Most Public Property
State limits or bans any type of carry in and around government facilities (state, county, municipal) and/or limits carry of firearms in parades and demonstrations
Guns Banned in Bars
State prohibits carry inside bars or consumption of alcohol while carrying.
No Guns in K-12 Schools
Only LE (and in some states, specially licensed school officials) may carry on school property.
Does Not Recognize Other States' Carry Permits
State doesn't consider concealed carry permits from other states valid
Prohibited Persons and Possession Restrictions
Felons are Also Prohibited Persons at State Level
State has a law prohibiting felons from owning guns and ammo, even though federal law already does this.
Fugitives are Also Prohibited Persons at State Level
State has a law prohibiting fugitives from justice from owning guns and ammo, even though federal law already does this.
Involuntarily Committed are Also Prohibited Persons at State Level
State has a law prohibiting those who have been involuntarily committed (to a psychiatric hospital or mental institution), or those found to be a danger to themselves or others from owning guns and ammo. Federal law already prohibits anyone found to be mentally defective or committed to a mental institution at 16 years or older.
Violent Offenders Cannot Possess
State will take away firearms, deny future possession, or at minimum deny future purchase of firearms for certain misdemeanor crimes of violence (besides domestic violence violence).
Domestic Violence Offenders Also Prohibited Persons at State Level
State has a law prohibiting those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning guns and ammo, even though federal law already does this
Stalkers are Prohibited Persons at the State Level
State has either made stalking a felony (instant prohibitor) or makes an individual convicted of misdemeanor stalking a prohibited person.
Intervention and Seizure Provisions
Red Flag Law
Law enforcement (and others, depending on the state) is allowed to request that firearms be taken away from others with limited due process.
Emergency Gun Seizure Before Restraining Orders
Similar to a red flag law, state will take away guns before an actual conviction. This is often during domestic disputes, before a restraining order takes effect, and in similar situations.
Guns Seized for Hate Crimes
State will take away all firearms from an individual in response to a misdemeanor hate crime conviction.
Guns Seized After Becoming Prohibited
State will quickly respond when an individual's status changes to prohibited and take away all firearms belonging to that person.
Guns Seized After Domestic Violence Conviction
State will quickly respond to take away firearms from an individual if they are convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
Guns Seized Amid Restraining Orders
State will take away all firearms from anyone who is subject to a restraining order, even though federal law already does this.
No Stand Your Ground Law
State imposes a "duty to retreat" before using force or requires "proportional force" when responding to an attack or dangerous situation with force.
Monitoring and Threat Assessment
Mental Health Database
State maintains records of anyone that has been committed or involuntarily committed to psychiatric hospitals. They send this information to the FBI for use by the NICS (or when conducting a state background check, if applicable).
School Officials Conduct Threat Assessments
Teams of mostly school officials are empowered by law to refer children for mental health assessments or take more drastic action if they believe the child poses a threat to themselves or others.
Mandatory Tracing of "Crime Guns"
Law enforcement must use either a state system or the federal firearm tracing system to research any firearm recovered from a crime scene or used in a crime.
Law Enforcement Oversight and Accountability
No LE Officers Bill of Rights
Some states never passed (or passed and later repealed) a set of basic protections for public safety officers. These protections vary by state. They often include the right to engage in political activity and run for public office, and the right to refuse a lie detector test, among other things.
Heavy Restrictions on LE Use of Deadly Force
State laws severely limit the discharge of firearms to apprehend criminals, including against individuals suspected of murder or fleeing a felony in many cases.
Reports for LE Deadly Force Incidents
Law enforcement agencies are required to report any officer-involved shootings that result in serious injury or death. Monthly or annual reports are compiled using this data and made available to the public.
No Qualified Immunity Defense Laws
In civil court, LE officials may not use a defense of qualified immunity if they are accused of certain civil rights violations. This includes situations in which a firearm was used.
Prevention and Support Programs
Dedicated Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Some states have passed legislation creating gun violence prevention offices that target "community gun violence." Taxpayer funds are used to support these programs, which may have little to no effect on violent crime.
Funding for Services of Victims of Gun Violence
Some states maximize the use of federal money intended for victims of violent crime by increasing pool of eligible claimants. Money is paid out to families of convicted felons in many cases.
Local Control
Counties / Cities / Towns Can Pass Stricter Gun Laws
Local governments are free to pass their own gun control laws in addition to any existing laws at the federal and state levels. Some states prohibit local governments from passing laws about specific things-including guns. This is known as preemption.
Conclusion
In this piece, we discuss the ammunition and firearms laws in Hawaii, so that you can better understand the legal processes for buying, owning, and carrying in the state. The gun and ammo laws in Hawaii are among the strictest in the nation, both from what is written in those laws themselves, as well as some of the enforcement practices that have been uncovered by local journalism.
To give the reader a sense of the relevant laws and practices in the state, we start here with the ammunition buying process in the state. Having done that, the piece then details the firearms laws in the state, including bans, the purchasing process, and the laws around carrying firearms.
This piece is not intended as legal advice. Instead, we hope that you find this as a good base of information for those who are looking to educate themselves on firearms laws in Hawaii.
Much of the information in this piece comes from Chapter 134 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, which codifies most of the relevant laws in the state.
Many states have a statute that asserts preemption, the idea that localities cannot make laws that are stricter than those at the state level when it comes to, in this case, firearms and ammunition. Hawaii has no such statute, but the state supreme court has ruled that the authority of local governments comes exclusively from state statutes, and thus the authority of the state government is higher than that of localities.
This means that there is de facto preemption in Hawaii: no locality can make gun laws that are stricter than the ones at the state level unless the state legislature gives that locality the power to do so by statute. In practical terms, this means that a single set of firearm and ammunition laws apply throughout the state.
Ammo Laws/Buying Ammo in Hawaii
First, we will cover Hawaii’s ammo laws.
On paper, the ammunition laws of Hawaii are fairly permissive. The state does not require a permit or background check to purchase ammunition, but there is a ban on armor-piercing and explosive ammunition.
The main guidelines to buy ammunition in the state come from the federal level. The ATF’s rules mandate that people have to meet both an age requirement and not be a prohibited person in order to buy ammo. The age requirements are eighteen years of age to buy rifle or shotgun ammunition, and twenty-one to buy pistol ammunition. Prohibited persons, generally those convicted of felonies or domestic abuse, those who have been found mentally unfit in a court of law, or those involuntarily committed to mental health facilities, cannot buy guns or ammo at all.
The major issue in getting ammunition to Hawaii is the shipping. Since ammunition is, in fact, lots of small explosive charges, USPS is unwilling to ship it at all, and other carriers will not ship it by air. In the continental US, this leaves the reasonable options of trucks and trains. Since Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the only way to get ammunition there is to ship it via, well, ship. This makes it prohibitively expensive and time-consuming for most sellers to deal with, and, thus, most retailers will not ship ammunition to residential addresses in the state even though it is legal to do so.
Thus, buying ammunition in the state is probably best done in person to avoid the expense and hassle of shipping overseas: prices in the state are usually quite high compared to on the mainland for most things, and ammo will not be an exception.
Once you do have some ammunition, the same law that banned armor-piercing rounds also bans magazines over ten rounds in capacity. There is also a state law mandating that people have a safe place, such as a locking cabinet or safe, in which to store firearms and ammunition. While the armor-piercing ammunition ban is not in and of itself unusual, the safe storage requirements and shipping hurdles to the state make it practically difficult to acquire and afford ammunition in Hawaii.
Gun Laws/Buying Guns in Hawaii
Next, we will do the same exercise for Hawaii’s gun laws.
The firearms laws in Hawaii are among the strictest in the nation. Before buying a gun, one has to get a permit from the state to do so. This permitting process demands that people be 21, take classes, and wait for at least two weeks after passing a background check.
In terms of bans, there are several in the state. First, machine guns, suppressors, and short-barreled rifles/shotguns are banned in the state. This means that NFA items are off-limits to everyone but law enforcement and military personnel in Hawaii. The state does not have a standard assault weapons ban that, for instance, usually covers rifles and shotguns. Instead, Hawaii bans “assault pistols” and defines them in a way that appears to target AR and AK pistols. As long as the ten-round magazine requirement in the state is met, the standard rifle configurations of both platforms are still legal in the state.
After getting the permit in the state, there are no additional waiting periods imposed: the permitting waiting period is, basically, a default two-week waiting period for people who want to begin purchasing firearms. At the gun store itself, the federal process is followed: the buyer must fill out Form 4473, and, after completing the background check and paying, can leave with the firearm the same day.
For private sales of handguns, the seller is required to both see a copy of the buyer’s state permit and mail a copy of that permit to the local police department within two days of the transfer.
The state, through local police departments, has several kinds of carry permits. For the average person who wants to concealed carry a firearm in Hawaii, this permitting process requires a class, a written test, and a shooting test in addition to a background check. This is one of the stricter permitting regimes in the country.
While Hawaii also offers open carry permits, a recent court case found that the state is completely unwilling to issue its open carry permits. Thus, actually getting a permit to legally carry a firearm in the state is different on paper than in practice. The state, in this case, is less willing than it appears to issue permits to carry. The permit, once issued, has somewhat widespread reciprocity with the continental US, though, notably, not with the closest states on the West Coast.
If one does manage to get a concealed carry permit in Hawaii, there are some places still off-limits for carrying, including:
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Public transit
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Schools
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Polling places
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Public parks
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City-owned buildings
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Medical facilities of any kind
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Any business that sells alcohol
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State and Federally-owned buildings
Hawaii’s list of prohibited places is among the strictest in the nation, meaning that even with a carry permit, it might be deeply impractical to carry a firearm anywhere in public due to the risk of major legal liability.
Hawaii’s gun laws are some of the strictest in the nation, and, in practice, it is nearly impossible to either get a permit or, even with a permit, carry guns legally in public. The above-linked court case brings up an interesting historical point: gun control has been a part of Hawaiian law since the middle of the 19th century, long before Hawaii became a state. The colonial legacy of arms control (one of the major reasons for the Second Amendment in the first place) is clear: keeping a population disarmed is a means by which governments seek to control the people. Hawaiian gun ownership is both highly restricted and difficult to practice for law-abiding people.
Sales Tax on Guns/Ammo in Hawaii
Hawaii has a general sales tax of 4%, and some localities add an additional half a percent. But, that’s not the whole story on taxes in the state: there’s a General Excise tax on goods that all businesses have to pay, and many businesses will increase their prices to account for this. Between sales tax, excise taxes, and the shipping cost involved, firearms and ammunition are certainly more expensive in Hawaii than they are in most other places in the country.
More Resources:
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The ATF maintains a list of all FFLs in the country, including in Hawaii. Generally, gun stores are Type 1 or Type 2 FFLs.
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There are a number of good gun ranges in the state.
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There are several well-rated gun stores in the state as well.
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2aHawaii is an active forum for folks interested in firearms, with especially active legal sections to talk about the state’s laws.