HONOLULU — Personal firearm permit applications in the state dropped more than 6% in 2022, according to the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General’s newly released report on 2022 firearm registration statistics.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the report, 21,881 personal and private firearm permit applications were processed statewide, a 6.1% decrease from the 23,299 applications processed in 2021

  • Of the total applications processed last year, 96.2% were approved and permits were granted; of those, 1.3% were subsequently voided when the applicants failed to return for their permits in time, while the remaining 2.5% were denied

  • Medical marijuana use accounted for 230 of the permit denials, followed by mental health-related issues (139) and criminal offenses (124)

  • Hawaii County accounted for the largest number of concealed carry permit applications with 90, followed by Maui (75), Kauai (65) and Honolulu (6)

According to the report, 21,881 personal and private firearm permit applications were processed statewide, a 6.1% decrease from the 23,299 applications processed in 2021.

Of the total applications processed last year, 96.2% were approved and permits were granted. Of those, 1.3% were subsequently voided when the applicants failed to return for their permits in time. The remaining 2.5% were denied.

Of the 540 total denials, 371 were for longarm permits and 169 for handgun permits.

Medical marijuana use accounted for 230 of the permit denials, followed by mental health-related issues (139) and criminal offenses (124). Other reasons for denial include domestic violence (33), drug offense (13), restraining/protective order (6), disqualifying juvenile offense (1) and other reasons (6).

Providing falsified information relating to criminal or mental health information on a firearm permit application is a felony offense. Submitting other types of falsified information on a permit application is a misdemeanor. According to the report, 300 of the denials involved the submission of falsified criminal or mental health information, or both.

The 21,047 permits issued statewide in 2022 cover a total of 51,883 firearms registered throughout the year, a 9.1% decrease from the 57,091 firearms registered during 2021. Nearly 52% of firearms registered during 2022 were imported from out-of-state. The rest were transfers of firearms that were previously registered in the state.

Handguns accounted for the largest number of registrations at 23,604 (45.5%), followed by rifles (22,939/44.3%) and shotguns (5,340/10.3%).

Despite the decrease in registrations from 2022 to 2023, firearm registration activity overall has increased dramatically over the 23 years for which data have been systematically compiled and reported. From 2000 to 2022, the number of statewide permit applications annually processed increased by 237.2%, the number of firearms annually registered climbed 281%, and the number of firearms annually imported jumped by 313.8%, according to the report.

The DAG report also included concealed carry permit applications. Statewide in 2022, 76 employees of private security firms applied for and were issued carry permits, and two (2.6%) were denied. The police processed a total of 236 carry permit applications submitted by private citizens statewide in 2022, resulting in 213 (90.3%) permits being approved and issued, and 23 (9.7%) being denied.

The vast majority of denials were for providing inaccurate or incomplete information in the application documents or for not following the application instructions, the report stated.

Hawaii County accounted for the largest number of concealed carry permit applications with 90, followed by Maui (75), Kauai (65) and Honolulu (6).

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.