The Department of the Attorney General released its annual report today detailing statewide and county firearm registration statistics for calendar year 2021.
A total of 23,299 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2021, marking a 10.8% decrease from 26,122 applications processed in 2020. Of the applications processed in 2021, 96.1% were approved and resulted in issued permits; 1.3% were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within a specified time period; and 2.6% were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.
The 22,393 permits issued statewide in 2021 cover a total of 57,091 firearms registered throughout the year, resulting in a 6.8% increase from the 53,481 firearms registered during 2020. Just over half (29,143, or 51.0%) of the firearms registered during 2021 were imported from out-of-state, with the balance accounted for by transfers of firearms that were previously registered in Hawaii. Rifles and shotguns comprised 43.2% (24,678) and 12.1% (6,922) of total registrations, respectively. The remaining 44.6% (25,491) of firearms registered throughout 2021 were handguns.
Firearm registration activity increased dramatically over the course of the 22 years for which these data have been systematically compiled and reported. From 2000 through 2021, the number of statewide permit applications annually processed increased by 253.1%, the number of firearms annually registered climbed 319.3%, and the number of firearms annually imported rose by 303.2%.
Record high tallies of firearms registered and imported, and permit applications processed, were reported in 2021 for Maui County.
The report, entitled Firearm Registrations in Hawaii, 2021, provides a range of additional statistics and analyses focused on firearm permits, registrations, and denials in the State of Hawaii and its 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.
