Hawaii Moves to Ban Ammo Sales to Citizens Under 21

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signs gun control legislation in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 2, 2023. Audrey McAvoy/AP Photo

Lawmakers in Hawaii have approved a bill that bans individuals below 21 years of age from owning ammunition.

Hawaii’s State House passed SB 2845 on April 1, with only five representatives out of 51 voting against it. The bill was earlier passed by the Senate in a 22-3 vote. SB 2845 prohibits anyone from “selling ammunition to a person under the age of twenty-one.” It bans anyone under the age of 21 from “owning, possessing, or controlling ammunition.” People engaged in ammunition sales are required to check a government-issued photographic identification to ensure the buyer is not younger than 21. Sellers who violate the law shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

“The legislature finds that the State has some of the strongest gun safety laws in the nation and had the third lowest number of gun deaths per capita in the nation as of 2021. Despite this, state laws restricting the sale, ownership, and possession of ammunition do not currently align with the State’s gun safety laws,” the bill states.

It highlights that several states like Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Idaho, and New Jersey have established a minimum age requirement for buyers of ammunition.

The bill claims that setting an age limit for purchasing ammunition “will help to ensure the safety of residents and reduce incidents of gun violence in the State.”

Hawaii’s House, Senate, and the office of the Governor are controlled by the Democratic Party. The state has fewer gun owners compared to others. With a 9.1 percent gun ownership rate and 6.4 registered guns per 1,000 people, the state is second-last from the bottom. At the top of the list is Montana with 65.7 percent gun ownership, and 33.2 guns per 1,000.

Several anti-gun and pro-gun groups had submitted testimonies in support of and opposing the bill. Krystal LoPilato, senior policy counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety, the country’s largest gun violence prevention organization with almost 10 million supporters, testified that the bill was“a prudent step to harmonize firearms and ammunition laws in the state.”

Angelina Mercado, executive director of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (HSCADV), said the bill “would have a profound impact on public safety, survivors of domestic violence, their children, and the organizations that serve them.”

Keely Hopkins, state director of the National Rifle Association of America—Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) said the bill discriminates against the Second Amendment rights of young adults.

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right and should not be treated as such. Young law-abiding adults should be free to exercise their constitutionally protected rights and a critical element of the Second Amendment is the ammunition needed for firearms to function,” she said.

“Further, this legislation will not offer a public safety benefit, as those who ignore the many existing firearm laws in Hawaii will surely ignore this one as well. Instead, young adults who wish to engage in the use of firearms for lawful self-defense purposes will be negatively impacted.”

Andrew Namiki Roberts, director of Hawaii Firearms Coalition, criticized the bill for infringing on the rights of young adults to engage in hunting, sport shooting, and other activities that require access to ammunition.

“It’s important to note that these activities not only form a part of our cultural heritage but also contribute to our economy and the conservation efforts funded by the responsible use of firearms,” he said.

Anti-Gun Measures in Hawaii

The new bill is the latest in a series of gun control measures Hawaii has initiated. In February, the state Supreme Court ruled that Hawaii does not provide a constitutional right to carry firearms in public, a deviation from the U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirmed such a right.

The ruling came as part of a lawsuit in which a man was charged with a felony for violating three gun laws in Hawaii. Two of these laws restrict the possession of firearms and ammunition to the owner’s residence or business.

The plaintiff, Christopher Wilson, approached the court, arguing that prosecuting him for possessing a firearm for self-defense purposes outside his home violated his right to bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 17 of the Hawaii Constitution.

The Hawaii Supreme Court said in its opinion that “the spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities.” It insisted that the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision “snubs federalism principles.”

In the 2022 “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen” case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense purposes in public places.

The Hawaii Senate recently passed SB 3196 which expands the state’s existing ban on assault pistols to include .50 caliber rifles and assault weapon attachments. The bill “modernizes the prohibition on assault pistols to include pistols with one or more prohibited feature.”

NRA-ILA pointed out that SB 3196 was “poorly drafted and expansive in such a fashion that so-called ‘features’ could be left open to interpretation. Given the recent ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court, rebuking the Bruen decision, it’s likely to see restrictions viewed in the most unfavorable light for lawful gun owners.”

Last year, Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, signed SB1230 into law. It prohibits carrying guns at many places, including beaches, nursing homes, hospitals, restaurants serving alcohol, movie theaters, stadiums, courthouses, and public parks.