AG NEWS RELEASE: Attorney General provides update on firearms background checks in Hawaii
Posted on Mar 18, 2016 in Latest Department News
HONOLULU – Attorney General Doug Chin provided an update on Hawaii’s firearms background check reporting in conjunction with today’s release by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of recent statistics on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Attorney General Chin said “Hawaii has the lowest gun death rate in the nation. We support federal efforts to make Hawaii even safer and are working collaboratively with legislators on bills that would further protect our residents from gun violence.”
The release of statistics for NICS includes descriptions of the reported categories in an attempt to explain the low reporting by most states. Firearms background checks include a query into the NICS Index as well as the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and criminal history information to determine if prospective applicants are disqualified from owning a firearm.
Hawaii’s criminal history information system, maintained by the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center (HCJDC), reports all arrests and dispositions to the FBI. HCJDC is consistently one of the Top 10 in the nation for its completeness of data, ranking in the 90th percentile of all 50 states.
Additionally, Hawaii’s mental health data reporting to NICS includes all cases resulting in an acquittal by reason of insanity and involuntary civil commitments. Qualifying temporary restraining orders and protection orders are also reported to NCIC.
Attorney General Chin said “My office continues to work with county, state, and federal law enforcement to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. This includes our efforts to work with the county police in reporting crimes of domestic violence for purposes of firearms background checks.”
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For more information, contact:
Joshua A. Wisch
Special Assistant to the Attorney General
(808) 586-1284