QUESTION: I live on a neighbor island and want to bring my handgun to Honolulu. How can I do this legally?
ANSWER: We assume your handgun is registered, as required by law (see is.gd/6VRR1T).
If it is, you can bring it over as checked baggage by following the requirements of the Transportation Secu rity Administration and the airlines.
You cannot bring any firearms, ammunition and firearm parts, including firearm frames and receivers, as a carryon. The exceptions are law enforcement officers who meet certain requirements.
TSA says firearms must be unloaded, packed in a locked hardsided container in or as checked baggage and declared to the airline at checkin. See www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assis tant/editorial_1666.shtm for more information.
You are advised to find out what additional requirements the airline you are flying may have.
Hawaiian Air, for example, has a lengthy list of requirements for both firearms and ammunition, including type, size, weight and number allowed.
When checking in, when you declare your baggage contains firearms, Hawaiian Airlines will determine whether you’ve complied with its rules. If you pass inspection, you then must fill out a declaration form further declaring the firearms are not loaded.
See help.hawaiianair.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/677/~/special-items-firearms.
QUESTION: Is it true that if I share my food with my neighbor and he becomes ill, I am liable? Is it also true if I render aid to a person in an accident and the person dies, I am liable and can be sued? What protection does a person have trying to be a good Samaritan? Is it better not to get involved?
ANSWER: You can be sued for almost anything and it ultimately would be up to the legal system to determine if you are liable in any way.
However, there are protections for some dogooders.
All states, including Hawaii, have some form of a good Samaritan law.
Section 6631.5 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes says: “Any person who in good faith renders emergency care, without remuneration or expectation of remuneration, at the scene of an accident or emergency to a victim of the accident or emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from the person’s acts or omissions, except for such damages as may result from the person’s gross negligence or wanton acts or omissions.”
It also says: “No act or omission of any rescue team or physician working in direct communication with a rescue team operating in conjunction with a hospital or an authorized emergency vehicle of the hospital or the State or county, while attempting to resuscitate any person who is in immediate danger of loss of life, shall impose any liability upon the rescue team, the physicians, or the owners or operators of such hospital or authorized emergency vehicle, if good faith is exercised.”
Among other provisions, it also specifically says a person trained to use automatic external defibrillators is not liable for civil damages resulting from any act or omission while attempting to resuscitate someone in immediate danger when administering a defibrillator, except for gross negligence.
As to getting involved, that would be a personal decision, but see the “mahalo” below.
MAHALO
To the good Samaritans who came to the aid of our mom, Josephine “Jo” (Eslit) Gerardo who was involved in a car accident on Lanikuhana Avenue in Mililani on Thursday, June 28. Jo was very close to losing her arm after the car flipped on its side. Your quick response and immediate aid saved her life. Thank you for remaining with her until the EMTs arrived. You are true angels and heroes. Malama Pono. — Tony Gerardo, Paul, Randy, Teri (Glenn), Stephanie (Jack), Mavis (Gene), Sonia (Rod), grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu StarAdvertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 5294773; fax 5294750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
