Department of the attorney general releases annual firearm registration statistics

The Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General released its annual report on April 29, detailing statewide and county firearm registration statistics for calendar year 2023.

The Big Island processed a total of 4,815 firearm applications, with 4,483 of those applications being approved and 332 denied. A total of 9,360 firearms were registered and 4,863 firearms were imported in the county in 2023.

Statewide, a total of 23,528 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed during 2023, marking a 7.5% increase from 21,881 applications processed in 2022. Of the applications processed in 2023, 95.5% were approved and resulted in issued permits, 2.3% were “voided” (canceled/rejected for technical reasons), and 2.2% were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.

The 22,459 permits issued statewide in 2023 cover a total of 51,807 firearms registered throughout the year, resulting in a 0.1% decrease from 51,883 firearms registered during 2022. Just over half (26,267, or 50.7%) of the firearms registered during 2023 were imported from out-of-state, with the balance accounted for by transfers of firearms that were previously registered in Hawaiʻi. Rifles and shotguns comprised 40.0% (20,746) and 8.9% (4,598) of total registrations, respectively. The remaining 51.1% (26,463) of firearms registered throughout 2023 were handguns.

Firearm registration activity increased dramatically over the course of the 24 years for which these data have been systematically compiled and reported. From 2000 through 2023, the number of statewide permit applications processed annually increased by 262.6%, the number of firearms annually registered leapt by 280.5%, and the number of firearms annually imported climbed 263.4%.

The report, entitled Firearm Registrations in Hawaiʻi, 2023, provides a range of additional statistics and analyses focused on firearm permits and licenses, registrations, and application denials statewide and in each of the four counties.

The full report can be downloaded from the Department of the Attorney General’s Research and Statistics web site at http://ag.hawaii.gov/cpja/rs and here.