Hawaii Becomes First State to Put Gun Owners in FBI Database

Hawaii passed a law making it the first state to put gun owners on a federal criminal record database and monitor them. 

Hawaii Governor David Ige signed the bill Thursday, which allows police to enroll firearms applicants and individuals who are registering their firearms into “Rap Back,” a Federal Bureau of Investigation database that monitors criminal activities by people under investigation or in positions of trust, Reuters reported. 

The law takes effect immediately. “Rap Back” allows Hawaii police to be notified when a Hawaii firearm owner is arrested anywhere in the U.S. In addition, the law allows Hawaii police to evaluate whether a firearm owner should continue owning a gun after being arrested.

Hawaii: Gun Owners May Be Monitored More Closely Than Criminals Under New Law

                                                                      BY NRA-ILA STAFF | FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016

 Yesterday, Governor Ige announced that he signed two anti-gun bills, Senate Bill 2954 and House Bill 625, into law.  Both bills took effect immediately upon his approval.  Apparently the Governor thinks that law-abiding Hawaiians should be entered into a federal criminal database for continuous monitoring because that is exactly what SB 2954 will do.  Under SB 2954, the existing registration requirement will be expanded and law-abiding Hawaii gun owners, and visitors, will be entered into the federal “Rap Back” system, which is a biometric database managed by the FBI for continuous monitoring. 

The exercise of an individual’s Second Amendment rights is not inherently suspicious and should not require a person to surrender other civil liberties, including unwarranted invasions of privacy or unequal treatment under the law. The lawful acquisition, possession, carrying, or use of a firearm does not justify subjecting citizens to ongoing monitoring. 

Governor Ige also signed HB 625, which expands prohibited possessors to include certain misdemeanor crimes.  Constitutional rights are generally restricted only upon conviction of a felony.  The reasons for this are two-fold.  It limits restrictions on constitutional rights to only the most serious offenses, and, perhaps more importantly, felony convictions provide greater procedural protections to the accused, which results in more reliable convictions.  The right to keep and bear arms should not be treated as a second-class right and should be restricted only upon conviction of a felony

DYI Comments: Placing gun owners on the FBI's data base is no doubt an invasion of privacy and is definitely unequal treatment under the law.  Exercise your 2nd amendment rights, which is not a crime, yet in Hawaii you will be placed on the Fed's criminal database. That is blatant unequal treatment under the law.

I also find this legislation to be nefarious as the State of Hawaii involves the Fed's; a rampant abuse of the 10th amendment as well.  Of course if this data base was only with State of Hawaii it still would be unconstitutional as it is an infringement upon gun ownership.

Also if a person convicted of a crime and has done his time shouldn't his constitutional rights be returned?  Doesn't a returned felon have the same right to self protection?  Take away the 2nd why not their 4th or 5th amendments as well.  Don't get me wrong I'm not here to coddle criminals.  But how long should we punish? Till death?  If they are that dangerous why aren't they in prison?  If our founding fathers were alive today I believe after convicted criminal paid his debt to society(prison time) all rights under the constitution are returned.  The slippery slope of doing away with one right begets disparagement of additional rights.

DYI