Firearms registrations in Hawaii increased by more than 20 percent last year, a trend that dealers attribute in part to fears about the possibility of tighter restrictions.

A record 60,757 firearms were registered in 2013, marking a 20.6 percent increase over the previous year, the attorney general’s office reported Thursday. In addition, 21,544 permits were issued to acquire those firearms.

The previous record for registrations was in 2012, when 50,394 firearms were recorded.

There are an estimated 1 million privately owned firearms in the islands, the AG’s office and the Honolulu Police Department estimate.

Gun sellers in recent years have attributed increases in gun registrations and permits largely to talks between President Barack Obama and Congress about stricter regulations in the wake of gun violence occurring in places like Newtown, Conn., where the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012 took the lives of 26 children and adults.

"A lot of people cynically called President Obama gun salesman of the year,’" OGC Tactical owner Carter Berlin said.

At the peak last year, about 50 percent of his purchasers were new buyers, Berlin said. Now sales are "swell" but not at the same level as a year ago, he said.

Despite the increases over the years, firearm-related violent crimes remained low and stable through 2007 and subsequently decreased, the AG’s office said in a statement.

Hawaii is the only state that requires firearms to be registered at a statewide level, said criminologist Paul Perrone, the office’s chief of research, who prepared the report. A little under half of the firearms registered in 2013 about 29,955 were transfers of firearms that were previously registered in Hawaii.

A permit allows someone to purchase a firearm, transport it to limited places such as a shooting range or gunsmith, or use it for hunting. A permit to acquire rifles or shotguns is good for a year.

A handgun permit is required for every transaction. An applicant must have specific information about the make, model and serial number of a gun to be purchased before getting the permit.

Applicants apply through police, then get fingerprinted and photographed for various background checks. There’s also a 14-day waiting period.

All firearms must be registered with police within 72 hours of purchase.

Of the applications processed in 2013, 94.6 percent were approved; 4.3 percent were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within the specified time period; and 1 percent were denied due to one or more disqualifying factors.

More than half of the permit denials, 130 applications, were due to the applicants’ prior criminal convictions, while 11.2 percent were due to pending charges. The remaining 32.8 percent of the denials in 2013 were not based on the criminal histories of the applicants.

By county, 35,081 firearms were registered in Honolulu. Hawaii County accounted for 14,458 registered firearms; Maui, 7,567; and Kauai, 3,651.

Carrying a gun in public in Hawaii requires a license that’s sparingly approved by county chiefs of police.

Seven private citizens applied for licenses to carry a concealed firearm in public in Hono lulu. All seven requests were denied by Hono lulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha.

On Kauai, Police Chief Darryl Perry approved its lone applicant.

"That’s the first one reported since we began tracking these data in 2000," Perrone said of the Kauai approval.

Last year, 205 employees of private security firms were issued carry licenses, and two were denied, the report said.

Most states in the U.S. are considered "shall issue" states, meaning a citizen can apply for a conceal-carry permit and, if everything checks out, can carry a gun in public under the Second Amendment.

"We are one of a small and dwindling number of what’s called may issue’ states," Perrone said.

A federal appeals court opinion last month said a lower court was wrong to rule that a Hawaii man could not prove the state’s restrictions on carrying firearms violate the Second Amendment.

Christopher Baker filed a lawsuit in 2011 against the Honolulu Police Department after he was denied a license to carry a gun in public for self-defense.

The appeals court ruling sent his motion for a preliminary injunction back to U.S. District Court.

 Star-Advertiser reporter Gary T. Kubota and the Associated Press contributed to this report.