The number of firearm registrations in Hawaii reached a record high of 50,394 last year, matching a national trend toward more gun ownership as the nation’s leaders debate stiffer laws.

The state attorney general’s office on Thursday reported there also was a record high total of 21,864 firearm permit applications processed in Hawaii last year, a 70.3 percent increase from the previous record of 15,375 in 2011. A permit can cover more than one gun.

The 20,572 permits issued statewide in 2012 cover a record high of 50,394 firearms registered, a 73 percent increase from the previous record of 36,804 the year before. A total of 227 applications were denied, and another 1,065 resulted in permits that were later voided.

The report, which looks back at firearm registration to the year 2000, shows the number has grown steadily since 2004, except for a dip in 2010.

At the same time, the number of gun-related crimes in Hawaii peaked at 359 in 2009 and has decreased to below 300 in the last three years, dropping to 267 in 2011, according to the report. A figure for 2012 was not included.

More than 9 in 10 violent crimes involved weapons other than firearms, the report said. Since 2006 the percentage of violent crimes involving guns, as opposed to other weapons, has been under 10 percent, and was 8.6 percent in 2011, the most recent year cited.

Hawaii Rifle Association President Harvey Gerwig II said the state statistics track a national trend of an increase in gun ownership as President Barack Obama calls for more gun control.

"Barack Obama is the best gun salesman the world has ever known," Gerwig said.

Gerwig said people sense there may a scarcity of firearms and are collecting them now.

He said the statistics show an increase in the number of guns does not cause an increase in firearm-related crimes.

Gerwig said there is even evidence that changing laws to allow people to more easily use firearms to defend themselves decreases crime.

"We want the populace to be safe," he said. "They have a constitutional right to self-protection, and that includes self-protection by firearms."

Except for the police and military, Hawaii law forbids people from owning automatic weapons.

Under state law there’s a requirement to register each new gun. A permit to possess a firearm requires fingerprinting and criminal and mental health background checks.

Paul Perrone, research chief for the attorney general’s office, said statistics show police are rejecting some people applying for gun permits because of their backgrounds.

About 1 percent of all permit applicants, or 227 during 2012, were rejected, including 190 for long guns and 37 for handguns, according to the report.

More than half of the denials were due to the applicant’s criminal record, and 13.7 percent because of mental health problems, the report showed.

"Our background check effectively weeds out felons and persons with mental health problems, leaving only Hawaii’s most law-abiding people eligible to obtain firearms," Perrone said. "The crime trends reflect only criminals engaging in crime, while the registration trends reflect law-abiding citizens engaging in lawful conduct."

Nadine Onodera, a Hawaii chapter leader of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, said Hawaii’s homicide rate has been traditionally low. She said she is pleased with Hawaii’s gun control laws, including a ban on automatic weapons.

Automatic weapons fire more than one bullet with each pull of the trigger. Semiautomatic weapons, by contrast, automatically chamber a round but fire only one at a time.

She said gun control laws are necessary to protect society, and recalled the mass killing of seven people by a disgruntled employee in the Xerox building on Nimitz Highway in 1999.

"It just takes one episode," she said.

State officials estimate there are at least 1 million firearms in the state, but Gerwig said he thinks the numbers are closer to 2 million to 3 million because before 1994 there was no registration required for rifles and shotguns.

People buying rifles, shotguns and handguns in Hawaii are required to register them and undergo a 14-day waiting period so that police can conduct the criminal and mental health checks.