OAHU….Mayor Blangiardi announces steps to keep residents safe as new concealed carry regulations will soon go into effect

Mayor Blangiardi announces steps to keep residents safe as new concealed carry regulations will soon go into effect

HONOLULU – Mayor Rick Blangiardi has asked the Honolulu City Council to consider a draft ordinance regarding residents carrying firearms in public.

This request comes in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, and the reality that the City must allow for public carrying of firearms.

The draft ordinance proposes the following: First, it recognizes certain locations as traditionally “sensitive places” where firearms are prohibited, including schools, government buildings, parks, voting locations, and public transportation. Second, it creates a default rule for private businesses and charitable organizations, to make it clear that the property owner gets to decide whether firearms are allowed on the premises. Under this default rule, guns are prohibited on the premises of private businesses and charitable organizations; however, those property owners can consent to allowing firearms on the property. This default rule means that property owners do not need to spend money putting up signs saying that guns are allowed or prohibited, and it will help ease confusion – and reduce the possibility of confrontations in stores, restaurants, and hospitals – as the City begins issuing licenses to carry firearms in public.

“The Supreme Court’s recent ruling requiring the City to allow for public carrying of firearms presents a formidable and unprecedented challenge for our State, and all of our local communities. Consequently we will take the appropriate measures to prohibit guns from certain “sensitive places” including schools and government buildings, said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “Our state has restricted public carrying of firearms for nearly 170 years and as a result, has one of the lowest gun-violence rates in the country and we want it to stay that way.”

The Honolulu Police Department will hold a hearing on Tuesday, October 4, regarding the procedures for obtaining a license to carry a firearm in public. For more information, including the draft rules and information on how to submit testimony, can be found at https://tinyurl.com/hpd-ltc-draft-rules.

—PAU—