GunsHawaii becomes first state to place gun owners – both residents and visitors -- in a federal database

Published 28 June 2016

Hawaii has become the first U.S. state to place its gun owners on a federally managed database — the FBI’s “Rap Back” criminal monitoring system — and monitor them for criminal activity. The new law would permit Hawaii police to determine whether gun owners ought to be allowed to keep possession of a firearm following an arrest.

Hawaii has become the first U.S. state to place its gun owners on a federally managed database and monitor them for criminal activity. CNN reports that the bill was signed last week by the Governor David Ige (D), and took effect immediately.

The new law would permit Hawaii police to determine whether gun owners ought to be allowed to keep possession of a firearm following an arrest.

Hawaii gun owners are already required to register their firearms. The new law will enroll gun owners in the FBI’s “Rap Back” criminal monitoring system, which is used to evaluate people being investigated by the authorities or those employed in positions of trust, such as schoolteachers.

Rap Back is operated by the FBI – and the agency will inform Hawaii authorities whenever one of the state’s registered firearm owners is arrested for a crime anywhere in the United States. Visitors to Hawaii, who come with their guns, will also be required to register – but will be allowed to petition to be removed from the Rap Back database after leaving Hawaii.

“This is about our community’s safety and responsible gun ownership,” Ige said in a statement. “This system will better enable our law enforcement agencies to ensure the security of all Hawaii residents and visitors to our islands.”

A spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, told Reuters that the gun rights organization found the measure “one of the most extreme bills we’ve ever seen.”

Ige also signed two more gun safety measures into law: one which bars people convicted of stalking or sexual assault convictions from owning guns, and another which requires gun owners to give up their firearms if they are diagnosed with “a significant behavioral, emotional, or mental disorder.”