Firearm registration up 287.4%, firearms imported up 418.6% in Maui County between 2000-2022

The annual number of firearms permits processed in Maui County increased by 238.5% for the period between 2000 and 2022, according to the state’s new Firearms Registrations report issued by the Department of the Attorney General.

There were 2,691 firearms applications processed in Maui County in 2022. That’s up from reports from 2014 to 2017 when annual applications ranged from 1,600 to 2,014; but down from the 2,938 reported in 2021, and the 2,874 applications processed in 2020.

The report shows the number of firearms annually registered in Maui County also soared 287.4% over the same 23 year period. There were 7,146 firearms registered in 2022, down from 2021 (8,149) and 2020 (7,464); but up from levels reported between 2014 and 2019 when annual registrations ranged from 4,121 to 5,660.

The tally of firearms annually imported to Maui County skyrocketed by 418.6% between 2000 and 2022. There were 3,324 firearms imported in 2022. That’s down from 2021 (3,763) and 2020 (3,628); but up from levels reported between 2014 and 2019, when annual firearms imports ranged from 1,849 to 2,403.

In Maui County, there were:

• 2,691 Applications Processed
• 2,594 Applications Approved/ Permits Issued
• 46 Applications Approved/ Permits Voided
• 51 Applications Denied
• 1.9% Denial Rate
• 7,146 Firearms Registered
• 3,324 Firearms Imported

Permits to Carry Firearms

The state Department of the Attorney General reports that the county police departments processed 76 applications from employees of private security firms for a permit to carry firearms in public last year. Two of them (2.6%) were denied.

Police also 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, according to the report.

Department officials note that the vast majority of denials were for providing inaccurate or incomplete information in the application documents, or for not otherwise following the application instructions.

Here in Maui County, there were 75 permit to carry applications processed for private citizens (56 of them approved), and a 25.3% denial rate. In Hawaiʻi County, 90 applications were processed, 89 of them were approved, and there was a 1.1% denial rate. On Kauaʻi all 65 applications were approved. In the City and County of Honolulu, six applications were processed, and only three were approved, for a 50% denial rate.

Statewide data:

A total of 21,881 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2022, marking a 6.1% decrease from 23,299 applications processed in 2021, according to the report.

The 21,047 permits issued statewide in 2022 cover a total of 51,883 firearms registered throughout the year, resulting in a 9.1% decrease from 57,091 firearms registered during 2021.

The department reports that rifles and shotguns comprised 44.3% (22,939) and 10.3% (5,340) of total registrations, respectively. The remaining 45.5% (23,604) of firearms registered throughout 2022 were handguns, according to the Department of the Attorney General.

“Firearm registration activity increased dramatically over the course of the 23 years for which these data have been systematically compiled and reported. Comparing the year 2000 to the year 2022, the number of statewide permit applications annually processed increased by 237.2%, the number of firearms annually registered climbed 281.0%, and the number of firearms annually imported leapt by 313.8%,” according to a department release.

The full report, entitled Firearm Registrations in Hawaiʻi, 2022, can be found here.

*Editor’s Note: This post was updated to reflect the correct title and date range of the data collection. We apologize for the error.