LIHU‘E — In a move that could have a big impact on gun ownership on the island, the Kaua‘i Police Department released a revised permit application last week for a license to carry concealed and unconcealed firearms.
The new application was a response to the landmark June ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court case New York State Rifle &Pistol Association v. Bruen, which overturned a New York law requiring people applying for concealed-carry permits to demonstrate a specific need to have a gun in public.
Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i have operated under a similar system, in which police chiefs can deny the permit requests unless the applicants show a special need to carry a gun, like a threat to personal safety.
KPD Investigative Services Bureau Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce said that the changes to the application would reduce the requirements for those hoping to carry a gun in public.
“Before, you had to justify that your life was in danger,” said Ponce. “You had to justify that you needed it for immediate self-protection.”
He also reported that there are still “reasons that you can be denied.”
“It’s not like everybody who applies for a permit will automatically get it,” he said.
Kaua‘i Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Like clarified that “the chief of police does retain discretion to deny permits based on certain criteria.”
The new application also still requires a significant amount of legwork for applicants, including a firearm-proficiency test and a waiver of liability for those providing information during a background check.
Keeping with a state Department of the Attorney General opinion issued in July, the application has different requirements for open- and concealed-carry applicants.
For both concealed- and open-carry licenses, applicants are asked a range of questions focused on their criminal and mental-health histories.
For open-carry permits, though, applicants are asked to answer
questions justifying their need to open carry.
The questions for both sections are “Yes or No,” with space provided for further explanations of certain answers. It is unclear if answers in this category can immediately disqualify a person from open carrying.
Director of the Hawai‘i Firearms Coalition Andrew Namiki Roberts said the group sees the new Kaua‘i permitting process as too strict — “far outside the scope of the law and what would be constitutional given the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
“The police chief is taking this (to mean) he can make a qualification standard for those that wish to carry,” said Roberts.
“The chief of police has no authority to deny permits to anyone absent evidence that the person is a prohibited person.”
The Kaua‘i permitting process appears more relaxed than the Hawai‘i Island policy announced in late August, which requires a waiver of all legal privileges, including “attorney-client, clergyman-penitent, husband-wife, physician-patient, psychologist-client, creditor-customer and accountant-client” for background checks on applicants.
The KPD application includes a waiver that authorizes those contacted to release “information, data or opinions they may have” as to the applicant’s “background, family, mental health and any other relevant information,” though it does not mention any of these privileges specifically.
In terms of weapons-violations prosecution, Like said the Bruen decision would change little.
“We do not prosecute individuals who have valid firearm permits, and that will continue to be the case,” said Like.
Managing member at JGB Arms Jason Bryant had a wait-and-see attitude on whether the changes will affect sales at JGB and the number of people carrying weapons in public.
“It’s too early to tell,” he said. “The process requires a good amount of information, and the proficiency test is very challenging.”
Other counties have also seen similar permitting changes, with the Maui Police Department issuing its first permit to carry a concealed weapon last month.
As of late August, KHON reported Honolulu has seen 333 applications, compared to the three to four they usually get a year, though none had been approved yet.
As of Friday morning, KPD reported that no permit applications had been approved.
