LIHU‘E — After they revised their permitting process in response to the landmark Supreme Court ruling in State of New York v. Bruen, the Kaua‘i Police Department has begun issuing new open carry permits.
Police Chief Todd Raybuck announced at a Police Commission meeting on Friday that the department had granted an open carry permit to Miles Tanabe, CEO of security contracting company Blue Knight Services and a retired KPD officer.
The company — about 60 employees strong — is contracted by the federal government to provide security at seaports, protect ATM repair technicians and assist with Transportation Security Agency enrollment.
“We needed to have an open carry permit to serve as a deterrent for different contracts we have,” said Tanabe.
The permit granted Tanabe only applies to him — each individual employee from his company would need to apply separately. Their weapons can only be carried on duty, and need to be stored on-site.
The Supreme Court ruled in the New York State Rifle &Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen case that an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home was constitutionally protected — and New York’s requirement that an individual demonstrate a special need in order to do so violates those protections.
Hawai‘i has similar restrictions on public carrying, so the court’s decision led police departments throughout the state to revise their application processes.
The application revision process contributed to a long wait time for Tanabe to get his application
processed. Prior to the revised application process, Tanabe said he had submitted several applications to carry, none of which had been approved.
“It was lengthy because there were different things happening during that period of time — like the Supreme Court decision — that changed the rules,” said Tanabe. “There were all these mitigating circumstances.”
While the new process makes these permits more accessible, applicants still face several hurdles in carrying a gun in public.
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, applicants are also asked to answer questions justifying their need to open carry. KPD Chief Todd Raybuck still has final say on who is issued a permit, and applicants need to reapply every year.
Tanabe said he supports the current restrictions on accessing open carry permits.
“A lot of people think this is overreach by the county or government to make it difficult for people to carry weapons,” said Tanabe. “The reality is there are merits to everything they are doing to make it safer for everybody.”
Earlier this month, Raybuck announced in an interview with KHON TV that 53 applications for concealed carry permits had been submitted following the Bruen decision. That marked a total of 39 applicants since several people submitted multiple applications for different weapons.
“I want to thank the Kaua‘i community for their patience and understanding as we move forward in a new chapter in our state,” said Raybuck in the TV interview. “We just ask to continue a dialogue as we learn what this new reality is in our state going forward.”
The police department did not confirm whether any concealed carry permits had been issued yet.
The police department reported that 293 firearms had been registered last month and 2,891 were registered between January and October this year. This included 1,310 handguns, 1,975 rifles and 400 shotguns.
The number of weapons registered was a substantial decline compared with the same time period over the last two years — 3,862 in 2021 and 3,685 in 2020.
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Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
