Isle residents struggle with restrictions on guns

Kahuku resident Drew Wheeler had considered buying a combat-style weapon in recent months.

"That’s changed now," said Wheeler, whose 6-year-old nephew, Benjamin Wheeler, was one of 26 killed in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"I never thought that my family would be right smack in the middle of something of this magnitude," he said. "But this brought it right to a centerpiece in my life. This whole thing has changed me."

In reaction to President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday that laid out an aggressive plan to reduce gun violence, Wheeler, 47, said he supports regulation of "weapons capable of extreme danger" like those used at Sandy Hook.

"I’m torn on whether they should be able to be owned, period," he said.

Obama’s proposals, which include reinstating the assault weapons ban and renewing a 10-round limit on the size of ammunition magazines, have added fuel to a gun-buying frenzy in Hawaii, mirroring the nationwide trend.

"It’s difficult to keep our shelves stocked," said Security Equipment Corp. salesman Anthony Loui, referring to the AR-15 and AK-47 line of guns. His customers are buying what they are afraid will be banned, he said.

Opinions on Obama’s proposal vary widely.

Rich Lee, 41, of Kailua, who registered a handgun Wednesday, said he doesn’t think Obama’s plan would stop someone who is "bent on evil," adding, "It’s going to be hard to regulate morality."

Quintin Leong, 31, of McCully, who was applying for a handgun permit, said, "I definitely think they need more stringent background checks and application procedures, not so much with a ban on the actual firearm itself."

First-time gun owner David Mower, 48, of Manoa recently bought $10,000 worth of guns, including four assault weapons, two handguns and a shotgun.

Mower, a paramedic who responded to the 1999 Xerox building shooting in Hono­lulu in which seven people were killed and whose sister was killed in a murder-suicide, said, "I wrestled with that before I became a gun owner."

But he said he worried "there would come a point where I would not be able to purchase these guns," which he wants on hand for home defense after, say, a disaster that leads to a breakdown in the social order.

Wheeler, a scuba instructor who served in the military in the 1980s, recalled his nephew as a "rambunctious kid who had two speeds: full speed or stop."

"He reminded me a lot of myself because he had already made more trips to the hospital for injuries than his older brother," he said.

His brother and sister-in-law, David and Francine Wheeler, spoke on MSNBC’s "Rachel Maddow Show" a month after the massacre.

They have joined other parents whose children were victims at Sandy Hook in calling for a national dialogue to prevent such tragedies.

Francine Wheeler told Maddow, "My father would always say, ‘Ben is going to do amazing things,’ and I always say now, ‘I just didn’t know it was going to be in his death. I thought it was going to be in his life.’"

She said their other son, Nate, a fourth-grader, who was at Sandy Hook the day of the shooting, told her, "‘You promised you would protect us.’ … So what do I say to him? … I’ll do whatever I can to help protect Nate and to protect Ben’s spirit," she said.

Drew Wheeler said his brother "wants people to ask, ‘What is worth doing?’ to prevent this from happening again, because it’s all about action."

Wheeler says it’s his "motivation to keep the dialogue going … to continue to be the best uncle for Ben."

He said he is using social media to change opinions one person at a time, and wants to support local groups that seek stricter gun laws.

He said he tries to find common ground with others with different views, but it’s tough "because there’s a lot of hatred and vitriol being spewed."

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said of the president’s plan, "Let’s bear in mind that no one is talking about taking away rights guaranteed in the Second Amendment, but we cannot and will not forget the precious lives which have been senselessly lost as we move forward."

State Rep. Karl Rhoads introduced a bill Thursday to require people who buy bullets to prove they are licensed gun owners.

Hawaii Rifle Association President Harvey Gerwig said the requirement would unfairly affect those who bought rifles and shotguns before 1994, when long-gun registration became mandatory.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.