Firearms instruction in Honolulu

[brlau]

Hello THR,

First off I must apologize for neglecting to introduce myself here, something I should have done in my very first post. I am 29 years old, Chinese-American and living / working in Hawaii with my wife of a year and 9 mos. I am employed by our federal government, a mechanical engineer at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. I got started with firearms in high school when I joined the rifle team as a freshman. We shot .22 rimfire match rifles in standing, kneeling and prone positions. Back then, there were only 3 other public schools on Oahu with rifle teams. Now, I think there are a lot more although air rifle has probably taken over. I really enjoyed those years, although I think I could have done better (highest score 221 out of 300) if I had just concentrated more. Anyway, fast forward to a couple years ago when I finally touched a firearm again (just didn't have the opportunity in between). First it was rimfire again at an outdoor activity center - .22 semi pistol and rifle. The pistol was chained to the bench - and I'm a little taller than the average person here, so it wasn't that great. Then last year my wife and I went to Las Vegas for our 1st Anniversary. I wanted to try out full-auto, so we went to The Gun Store and I tried out an MP5. I took short bursts for both mags - I think I should have tried longer bursts for increased fun factor. Then, I rented a 1911 in .45 because after reading all these different forums I just had to find out if I could handle it, thinking I'd like to own one someday. It felt pretty good in my hand, but of course I could do with some instruction because I've never had any instruction in using handguns before. Which brings me (finally) to my question.

Can anyone recommend who to go to for the required firearms instruction here? I know most of you are in the other 49 states, but I did see a couple people from here, or at least used to live here. Here is the statement from the Honolulu PD website:

For handgun acquisitions, no person shall be issued a permit under this section unless the person has completed a Hunter's Education Course,or a Firearms Training or Safety Course.

You must have a notarized affidavit, signed by the certified firearms instructor or certified military firearms instructor who conducted or taught the course, providing the name, address, and phone number of the instructor and attesting to the successful completion of the course by the applicant.

I only know of three places here that provide this instruction: Firearms Academy of Hawaii, Lessons in Firearms Education, and Magnum Firearms. Can I just go to any one of these places for the purposes of getting the permit, or is there another place that outshines the rest? By the way, I'm looking towards a handgun for home protection (we're at the verge of moving from a condo to a single-family home), and shooting at the range. Although I started off with rifles, and have an affinity for rifle marksmanship, I'm not sure if I (or my wife) could manage an AR and dial 911 at the same time.

Brian

 

[migoi]

It depends....

on how comfortable you are with gun safety at this point. There are two basic ways to get the training required to be allowed to purchase a handgun in the state of hawaii: commercial course or the state course. There are some differences.

If you are already comfortable with firearms safety and understand the various types and calibers of handguns then I would recommend you go with the state sponsored Hunter's Ed course. This course takes a Friday evening and all day Saturday, you never touch a gun, and you spend lots of time hearing about different game animals in Hawaii. On the positive side is the cost: it's FREE. You can contact Kevin Kong at [email protected] or at 808-587-0200 (note to mods: this number is publicly published in a variety of sources, I am not revealing private info) You don't go to the range, you don't touch a firearm but you do end up with a certificate and a wallet sized card that will allow you to purchase handguns.

If you need to brush up on your 4 rules, basic handgun info, and want to send some lead downrange then you should sign up for a commercial course. The advantages are you actually get to handle a gun, you get to shoot, and you are more likely to run into folks who's interest in guns lies in other areas besides just hunting. My recommendation for the commercial route is to go through Young Guns. It is a gun shop located on Paa St (just down the hill from Tripler Army Medical Center and not on Young Street where you would expect it to be). The address is 2885 Paa St and their phone number is 808-833-4867. They act as a coordinating point for the LIFE course. I think it runs about $85. This course will also get you the certificate you need for a handgun purchase.

You can't do anything towards purchasing a hand gun until you get that certificate.

Basic rundown of the protocols:

Longgun (rifles and shotguns): No training required. Go down to the main police station on Beretania Street with ID, the address/ph number of your doctor (including zip code), and $24. Go to the records section (to the right as you're coming up the front stairs) go to the back to the firearms section. Tell the guy in the little window you want to apply for a longgun permit to acquire. They will shove about 9 forms back through the hole, take the $24 dollars, fingerprint and photo you. You then come back in two weeks to pick up the permit. This permit allows you to purchase as many rifles and shotguns as you can afford for 1 year. At expiration you fill out forms to renew (I'm pretty sure renewals are free, the $24 is for the FBI to process the fingerprints). After you get the permit, go buy your longgun, give the money to the shop, fill out their paperwork, walk out with gun. Within 3 days you have to bring the gun and your permit and ID back to that same window and register the rifle or shotgun with the police.

Handguns: Go do the training and get certificate. Go to gunshop and find gun you like, give them the money, fill out their forms, show them your certificate. They will keep your gun (yep, they have your money but they have to keep the gun until the mommy-state checks you out) Take your receipt (with make/model, caliber, action type, serial number, and barrel length) and ID down to the place described above. If you have not done a permit before you will need the $24, if you already got your long gun permit it will be free. (if you are doing a handgun first, ask for and fill out the forms for the long gun permit at the same time, no extra cost and you never know when you find a good deal in a long gun you can't pass up). After you've filled out the forms, go away and pray you don't need to defend yourself in the next two weeks. If you're still around after two weeks, go back to the police station and pick up your permit to acquire. Take that paper back to the gunshop, fill out more paper, pick up gun. Within 3 days take gun and paper work back to police station, fill out another form, wait about 15 minutes. Take gun home. Yep, 3 trips to the main police station (with the parking problems inherent to being that close to downtown) for one gun. You have to do this same drill for every single handgun you purchase.

The tricky part is making sure you will be around when the permit is approved after the two weeks. If you don't pick it up within 5 working days of the approval date you have to start all over.

This is long, sorry, it's a complicated mess here.

migoi

 

[Stand_Watie]

Welcome to the High Road

First off I must apologize for neglecting to introduce myself here, something I should have done in my very first post. I am 29 years old, Chinese-American and living / working in Hawaii with my wife of a year and 9 mos.

I hope you're Chinese-American in the sense that you were first a citizen of China and now America, because there's nothing more that I like to see than an immigrant to America taking up our traditions- that reaffirms to me that we are doing something right...If not, well welcome to THR anyway. I'm pretty sure you'll get a lot of great advice, even regarding a geographically distant state like Hawaii...I'm going to bring my wife and come visit you in a few years after I've saved some more money It's rumored to be a tropical paradise here on the continent.

 

[brlau]

Thanks migoi and Stand_Watie for the welcome and info!

Looks like I'll probably go the commercial course route. I know the four rules from reading here, on TFL, and numerous other forums and sites, but want to be sure. Wow.. they really do make it hard to acquire a firearm here. But I really appreciate the detailed information, since I really am a newbie to this. That was a good tip on getting the long-gun permit at the same time as my handgun permit. Although I most likely will stick with a handgun, in case my better half permits me to go for it I can get a long gun.

Sorry SW, I was born here in Hawaii - so I guess it should say American of Chinese descent Parents immigrated from Hong Kong, father got me a pellet gun when I was in middle school, but my mother is kinda anti. Understand completely about saving money before coming here. Sure we got nice weather, clear blue water and stuff but it ain't cheap here. A tip - for a look at real paradise head for the more rural areas like the North Shore of Oahu or the neighbor islands, tour group or ala carte is fine but keep in mind property crime is high here (something the tourist bureaus don't always seem to mention).

Thanks again for the replies!

Brian

 

[Stand_Watie]

Well regardless of your birthplace, welcome to THR. If you come visit us in Texas sometime we'll show you the joys of a little laxer gun restrictions...to make up for our harsher climate


p.s. Just a general note I thought you mentioned you were somewhat new to handguns - your safety courses or hunters ed courses will cover the very basic stuff of handling safety and storage but that is really just a scratch on the surface of shooting.

If people in Hawaii are as friendly as they are in Texas I'll bet there are a lot of serious shooters at the range who'll be more than happy to offer pointers. Reading through threads on the topic on this forum will give you a good idea of how to recognize the difference between the serious shooters and the blowhards.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Wow.. they really do make it hard to acquire a firearm here.

I was going to the same thing. I guess I take it for granted when I can just drive down to the gunstore and drive home with the gun all in one quick trip. I still like to complain about filling out the 4473 though.

I wonder if the laws in Hawaii have changed just recently? I have a few friends from Hawaii that moved here about five years ago. I remember them mentioning they had bought alot at the gunshows at the stadium in Honolulu where they have the Pro Bowl. They never said anything about having to go through a hassle of going to the police to get registered.

 

[brlau]

Stand_Watie: I actually have relatives living around Houston. Last time I was in Texas was when I was in the 6th grade... I remember my cousins saying our genes were they same, theirs were just bigger. Also that you could own machine guns there. Now, after learning more about Class III matters I find out not only can't I own a machinegun here, but I can't even have a suppressor to protect my hearing - tax or no tax. Anyway, with respect to training I'd like to take more advanced classes ala Gunsite or Thunder Ranch one day, time and funds permitting.

TheOtherOne: I'm not aware of how things were five years ago. I was heavily into flight sims at the time and all I was reading about was related to warbirds. The only gun show I know of now (within the past 2 years) is the one at the Blaisdell Center which is held biannually. The center has a small dome good for watching volleyball, basketball, or fights and an attached convention area where the gun shows are held. Only went once so far just to see what they have (it's like the gun shows you folks in the other 49 states describe, just smaller-one table with Nazi stuff and Simple Green, a couple tables with Beanie Babies, a couple guys walking around wearing fatigues of some sort but without any name or service tapes ). Not aware of any shows at the Aloha Stadium - though there is a lot more space there for goodies .

Brian

 

[Stand_Watie]

Lol, Brlau we just like to brag about everything being bigger in Texas. It's sort of a cultural thing.

Speaking of size, I noticed you commented that you were taller than average, and that reminded me of something I heard recently - asians have been historically stereotyped as being short in America and I have heard recently that almost all of the size difference between people of asian and european descent is attributable to diet rather than gentics - that asians of our generation are almost a foot taller on average than their parents.

My understanding regarding machineguns is that you have to have a class 3 ffl, and getting that depends a lot on your county of residence. My fatherlinlaw has one in Dallas county that he got in the 60's, but I've heard that the judge responsible for issuing them in Dallas county now will not issue them at all. I think that in the more sparsley populated counties of Texas (which is most of them) you can still get them issued if you are willing to pay the fees and jump through the hoops.