With the heightened awareness of gun violence locally and nationally, it would be a wise move — albeit unprecedented — to mandate Hawaii gun owners be entered into an FBI database that would alert law enforcement of any arrests in other jurisdictions.

Senate and House bills working their way through the state Legislature would establish “continuous background checks” rather than just the initial check when a firearm is registered. If passed into law, Hawaii would likely become the first state to register its gun owners through the FBI’s “Rap Back” database.

It’s unsettling that the only way local police know if gun owners have been arrested in another jurisdiction is if they come back to register another firearm. State law prohibits firearm ownership if someone has been charged or convicted of a felony, a crime of violence or the illegal sale of drugs.

Last year, 22 gun owners who attempted to register additional weapons here were deemed ineligible because of criminal records while eight others were disqualified because of their involvement in domestic violence cases. In 2014, 18 with criminal records were ineligible and two were disqualified due to domestic violence.

“The fact that we only come across them accidentally is kind of scary,” Honolulu Police Maj. Richard Robinson told the Star-Advertiser. “How is that possible in this day and age?” Those caught while registering subsequent firearms represent a tiny percentage of the total registered owners, and it’s frightening to think how many others unlawfully possess firearms.

Opponents of the bills, including the Hawaii Rifle Association, argue it would allow authorities to enter “law-abiding gun owners in a criminal database.” But the Honolulu Police Department rightly contends the Rap Back system is not a criminal database.

Rap Back is merely a computer database, compiling the fingerprints of people who have registered firearms — and if any of those people are arrested elsewhere in the country, the system will notify police here. Police in Hawaii will then have to track the cases to see whether they end in convictions.

Given that it would be nearly impossible to run manual criminal checks on all 350,000 gun owners on Oahu — not to mention tie up valuable resources — it simply makes sense to receive alerts automatically through Rap Back.

While lawmakers should support the measure’s intent, opponents have a point in questioning the proposed one-time fee of $62.75 to cover the cost to register a weapon and enroll in the Rap Back system — which seems high. Currently, only $14.75 is charged to register a firearm in Honolulu, which covers the fingerprinting. Robinson said those are set fees: $14.75 for fingerprinting, $30 for a state background check, $13 FBI Rap Back fee and $5 state Rap Back fee.

The Senate and House Judiciary committees — where the bills now head for consideration — should take a closer look at whether the $62.75 fee is warranted.

Citizens have the constitutional right to bear arms, but our state law prevents registered gun owners who run afoul of the law to own firearms. Being able to track whether gun owners have been arrested elsewhere would be a valuable tool for local police departments — one that is vital to protecting our communities.