Hawaii - HI Gun Laws

Every firearm purchase in Hawaii — handgun, rifle, or shotgun — requires a permit to acquire, which involves fingerprinting and a background check through county police, plus a 14-day waiting period. Once acquired, the firearm must be registered with county police within 5 days. Federal age minimums also apply: 18 for a long gun, 21 for a handgun to purchase from a dealer, but Hawaii's own permit-to-acquire system layers on top of those federal requirements for every purchase.

Hawaii's permit-to-acquire requirement applies to all firearm acquisitions, including private, person-to-person transfers — there is no exemption for private sales, family transfers, or any other category. Every transfer requires the same fingerprint-based background check and subsequent registration.

Hawaii follows the standard federal prohibited-persons categories: felony conviction, certain domestic violence convictions or active protective orders, unlawful drug users, individuals adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, fugitives from justice, dishonorable military discharge, undocumented immigration status, and renunciation of U.S. citizenship. Hawaii's permit-to-acquire and registration system also functions as an ongoing screening mechanism beyond the point of initial purchase.

Requires a carry license and is extremely rare in practice — Hawaii does not have a meaningful permitless or separate open-carry allowance for self-defense purposes. A long gun may be carried openly while lawfully hunting under a valid hunting permit.

Following the Bruen decision, Hawaii shifted to a shall-issue framework for concealed carry licenses, which are now valid statewide and require a state-approved firearms training course. In practice, the licensing process remains notably slower and more paperwork-intensive than in most other states covered in this build-out.

A valid carry license is required to carry a concealed firearm in a vehicle in Hawaii, consistent with the state's overall permit-based framework. The same sensitive-location restrictions that apply elsewhere also apply to vehicle carry (see Restricted Locations).

Hawaii's restricted-location list includes K-12 schools, courthouses, and government buildings, and because Hawaii has no statewide preemption, individual counties can and do impose their own additional restrictions on top of state law. Federal restrictions still apply regardless of state law — federal buildings and other federal property remain off-limits under federal statute.

Hawaii requires purchasers to be 21 to acquire any firearm through its permit-to-acquire system, a higher and more uniform floor than the federal 18/21 split used in most other states. Supervised possession and use by minors below that age — for hunting, target shooting, or firearms safety instruction under adult supervision — is handled separately from the acquisition/registration system.

Hawaii bans the manufacture, possession, sale, or transfer of detachable pistol magazines holding more than 10 rounds. This restriction is narrower than it first appears: it applies only to magazines designed for or capable of use with a pistol, with no capacity restriction on rifle or shotgun magazines, and Hawaii has no blanket assault weapons ban.

Hawaii is not a Stand Your Ground state — state law imposes a duty to retreat before resorting to deadly force outside the home or place of business, if it can be done in "complete safety." There is no duty to retreat inside the home or business itself.

Hawaii has no firearms preemption law of any kind. Each of the state's counties may impose its own additional restrictions on top of state requirements, creating real variation depending on where in Hawaii someone is.

Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, firearms registration resources: ag.hawaii.gov
Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 134 (full text): capitol.hawaii.gov
Your county police department: for permit-to-acquire and firearm registration (handled locally by county, not statewide)
ATF: for federal NFA questions — note that Hawaii's own state law bans suppressor possession outright regardless of federal approval