The latest lawsuit to take aim at Hawaii’s gun laws challenges the state’s ban on gun ownership for young adults 18 to 20 years old, which Second Amendment advocates say is an unconstitutional restriction on the right of Americans to bear arms.

Elijah Pinales, 19, and Juda Roache, who turns 18 next month, want to own guns for self-defense, according to their lawsuit filed Wednesday night in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.

Their lawyers assert that Hawaii is the only state with a complete ban on acquiring and owning firearms and ammunition by those who are 18 to 20. Some states allow 18-year-olds to purchase a long gun and some allow for private party transfer of handguns, said Alan Beck, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit and has lodged numerous other challenges to Hawaii weapons laws.

Roache’s mother wants to give him a firearm and ammunition, the lawsuit says.

Federal law requires a person to be 21 to purchase a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer and 18 to buy a long gun from a dealer, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. There’s an 18-year-old minimum for handgun purchases from unlicensed sellers and no minimum age for long guns, according to the group’s research.

New York and Illinois also have broad laws limiting people under 21 from possessing firearms, said David Pucino, legal director and deputy chief counsel for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

“Hawai’i has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and it has among the very lowest gun death rates,” he said in a statement Thursday. “That’s not an accident, but it hasn’t stopped extremists from attacking Hawai’i’s gun laws at every turn.”

According to Everytown, firearms are the leading cause of death for young people ages 18 to 20, the firearm suicide rate in that age group has jumped 41% in the last decade, and 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of those 21 and older.

The Hawaii attorney general’s office said it had not been served with the complaint and declined to comment.

“There can be no real argument that adults under 21 are not part of the national community,” the lawsuit said, noting that 18-to-20-year-olds have the right to vote. “They have the right to serve in the military and are otherwise full-fledged members of society and the People.”

The quest for a preliminary injunction against enforcing a prohibition on gun ownership for young adults comes as Hawaii continues to contend with a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

The so-called Bruen decision upended gun laws nationwide and set a new standard for interpreting gun laws, such that modern firearm laws must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

There’s no historical tradition of prohibiting the purchase and ownership of firearms and ammunition by adults under 21, according to the lawsuit, which describes some of the nation’s founding figures such as Aaron Burr, who at 19 enlisted in the Continental Army with his own arms and ammunition, and James Monroe who did the same at 18.

Hawaii’s gun ownership ban for young adults dates to 1994, the lawsuit said. The state “doubled down” this year by prohibiting the possession of ammunition by those under 21, the lawsuit said.

Danger Close Tactical in Honolulu and JGB Arms on Kauai are federally licensed firearms dealers who are plaintiffs in the case because they want to do business with customers who are 18 to 20 years old, the lawsuit said.

Another plaintiff is the Second Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit in Bellevue, Washington.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Today thru the weekend, it’ll be nice beach weather during the daytime with light winds and minimal rainfall. A few windward showers are possible over the eastern half of the state, but an overall drier trend is expected heading into the weekend.

Gradually diminishing trade winds will deliver just a few showers to windward areas of the smaller islands for the next day or so, while windward Big Island will continue to receive passing showers. Light and variable winds and mostly dry weather are expected statewide from Thursday night into Sunday. A weak front may move over the islands from the northwest late this weekend. This front is expected to bring little in the way of rainfall, however, and winds will remain fairly light.

A series of northwest and north-northeast swells are due later this week. Several small bumps along the way for north shores, but a medium north swell builds today and an overlapping swell arrives late Saturday, peaking Sunday into Monday. Surf should remain below high surf advisory criteria for the foreseeable future.

Get weather updates every ten minutes and your 7-Day First Alert Forecast on HNN Sunrise, weekdays with Guy Hagi and weekends with Billy V. Meteorologist Drew Davis has your forecasts on This is Now, First at Four and Hawaii News Now at 6:30. And join Chief Meteorologist Jennifer Robbins at 5, 5:30, 6, 9 and 10 and Ben Gutierrez on weekends.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – One day after the abrupt firing of University of Hawaii athletics director Craig Angelos, questions remain on exactly why he was suddenly let go.

The decision has upset many UH supporters and they’re making their feelings known.

Longtime UH supporter and businessman Mike Kawazoe founded the Rainbow Collective in April of last year as a way to raise funds for the department and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money for student-athletes.

In that time, the collective raised over $1 million, and Kawazoe applauds Angelos’ work in generating revenue and securing successful business ventures for the program.

He says he was shocked at the firing and says no one from the university has reached out to him explaining the decision.

Related post: University of Hawaii abruptly fires athletics director Craig Angelos after 18 months

“I think that if there was an egregious reason for this to occur, I think that everyone would get on board and say we understand why this move was made. It’s been crickets,” he said.

“If you’re using performance as the excuse, that makes zero sense from anyone close to the program,” said Kawazoe.

Kawazoe said while the collective will still donate funds for individual student-athletes and NIL opportunities, he will personally no longer donate any money directly to the university.

“We’re at a critical juncture here as all of these moving parts are going on and transitioning with deals on the table,” he said. “The ink on the paper is not signed yet and details to be worked out. It’s a critical time. The timing could not be worse.”

Learn more: Student-athletes, sports community incensed over ousting of UH athletics director

Attorney Jeff Portnoy is the former athletics committee chair for the university’s Board of Regents. He says this kind of sudden dismissal shows dysfunction, and can damage a program for years.

“It’s just another nail in what has been, unfortunately, the building of a coffin and under what circumstances, can Hawaii maintain a Division I football program when you have this kind of discord, which is being played out not only locally, but nationally? No one can say it’s a good thing,” he said.

The university has had five athletics directors since 2008. When the search for Angelos’ replacement begins early next year, Portnoy is worried that the current state of the department will ward off any serious candidates.

“How do you run a Division I football program with not having the NIL money? With not having the institutional money and playing on a football field where you’re lucky if you get 10,000 people? I don’t know who would take the job, but I’m sure there’s somebody out there that will think about it.”

We have yet to hear from UH President David Lassner on the decision, but he will be speaking with the Board of Regents Thursday at 9 a.m. at UH Manoa.

The public is also welcome to submit testimony.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.