Firearm Registration Soars 516% in Maui County Over 13 Years

Firearms/Maui Police Department Special Response Team. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Firearm registrations in the state reached a record high in 2013, with a total of 21,544 personal/private firearm permits issued statewide.

That covers a total of more than 60,000 firearms registered in the state, a 20.6% increase over the previous year, according to new data compiled and released by the state Attorney General’s office.

In Maui County, a total of 2,794 applications were processed with 2,631 permits approved, 107 permits voided, and 56 applications denied, according to the report.

The updated numbers brings to 7,567 the total number of firearms registered in Maui County. Of that, 3,357 firearms were imported from elsewhere.

The report states that Maui County processed 9% more applications and denied 118% more applications than anticipated in 2013.

Between 2000 and 2013, the number of permits processed annually in Maui County increased 351.4%, the number of firearms registered soared 516.2%, and the tally of firearms imported surged 487.4%, according to the report.

This report was prepared with input and assistance from the county police departments’ firearm registration personnel, with Debra Agena, records clerk at the Maui Police Department contributing to the report.

The report states that, “While there has been an increase in firearm registration activity in Hawaii since 2000, the number of firearm-related violent crimes and the proportion of violent crimes involving firearms relative to other weapon types remained low and stable through 2007 and subsequently decreased.”