In preparation for the issuance of permits allowing citizens to carry guns in public, Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Thursday sent a draft law to the City Council that would prohibit firearms at schools, banks, government buildings, parks and voting locations and on public transportation.

The draft ordinance also would prevent people with “concealed carry weapon” licenses from carrying guns in retail stores and industrial, commercial or wholesale establishments. Additionally, child care facilities, “places frequented by children,” bars and restaurants serving alcohol also would be gun-free areas if Blangiardi’s bill is adopted by county lawmakers.

Specific locations covered under the measure include the Honolulu Zoo, Waikiki Aquarium, Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve and the Hawaii Children’s Discover Center.

“The Supreme Court’s recent ruling requiring the city to allow for public carrying of firearms presents a formidable and unprecedented challenge for our state, and all of our local communities. Consequently we will take the appropriate measures to prohibit guns from certain ‘sensitive places’ including schools and government buildings,” said Blangiardi in a news release. “Our state has restricted public carrying of firearms for nearly 170 years and as a result, has one of the lowest gun-violence rates in the country and we want it to stay that way.”

The proposal includes a default rule banning guns at private businesses and charitable organizations but permitting the property owners to decide whether to allow firearms on the premises. That means property owners would not need to “spend money putting up signs saying that guns are allowed or prohibited,” according to a news release from the mayor’s office.

The default rule also “will help ease confusion” and “reduce the possibility of confrontations in stores, restaurants, and hospitals” once people legally can pack guns in public, the release said.

Any violation of Blangiardi’s proposed bill would be a misdemeanor.

The Honolulu Police Department already has received 477 applications to carry a gun around town that are awaiting approval by Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan.

HPD is hosting a public hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday at HPD headquarters to consider draft rules guiding the issuance of firearm permits and licenses.

The department anticipates issuing the first licenses before the end of October if the rules are passed without amendment.

“The upcoming change to the firearms law represents a significant shift for our community and our officers. It is our hope that city council members and state legislators will pass laws that reflect the principles and values of our residents,” Logan said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “As always, the Honolulu Police Department remains committed to ensuring the safety and protecting the rights of all.”

Blangiardi’s request is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, and the “reality that the city must allow for public carrying of firearms.”

County lawmakers, corporation counsels and police chiefs say they are working quickly to enact policies and ordinances that balance the legal realities of the high court ruling with public safety.

“This a complex issue with many legal factors, and we must ensure that we are compliant with the law. As always, the Honolulu City Council has worked with the City Administration to ensure the safety of our communities and will continue to do so,” Council Chair Tommy Waters, an attorney, told the Star-Advertiser in a statement. “We look forward to receiving the Mayor’s proposed legislation and to giving residents an opportunity to review and express their mana‘o.”

Hawaii County Council member Aaron Chung, an attorney who represents portions of South Hilo, said the issue of where people may carry guns in Hawaii is going to have to be taken up by the state Legislature when it convenes in January.

Chung, who plans to introduce a draft measure Tuesday on behalf of Hawaii County police, said he is “very concerned” about the possible public-safety implications of any new gun laws, but the “Supreme Court has ruled and now we have to react to it.”

“This issue is going to have to be taken up by the state Legislature. But between that time, until they can enact something that has statewide breadth, it behooves us to put some things in place,” Chung said.

The Hawaii Police Department said it has received 30 concealed-carry applications so far that are being processed. None have been issued, but police “expect that licenses to carry concealed weapons will be approved and issued in the very near future.”

“To preserve order and security in our county and to protect sensitive areas, the Hawaii Police Department worked collaboratively with our Corporation Counsel to craft an ordinance defining sensitive locations where the carrying or possessing of firearms are restricted,” said acting Police Chief Kenneth Bugado Jr. in a statement to the Star- Advertiser. “We feel that restricted sensitive locations should include hospitals, medical facilities, day care centers, churches, polling places, bars, airports, government buildings, and other sensitive areas that are included in the bill.”

According to Bugado, the vast majority of those applying for a concealed- carry weapons permit in Hawaii County are law-abiding people.

“I do not feel that gun violence will increase with people being able to legally possess or carry a firearm in public,” he said.

Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck said his department is processing 30 applications but has not issued any yet.

Identifying what con­stitutes sensitive places and regulating where concealed firearms should be restricted is an important issue to be resolved through the legislative process with public input, said Raybuck, who cited frequent conversations with Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami and members of the County Council on matters involving public safety.

“Balancing the right to carry a firearm in public with the necessity to provide gun-free spaces is an ongoing conversation,” he said in a statement to the Star-Advertiser. “The term ‘gun violence’ can include criminal acts, self-inflicted injury, and accidental shootings. Nevada implemented a (concealed-carry weapon) program during my law enforcement career in the state (with 150,000 permits issued when I left in 2019). It was not my experience that individuals with permits to legally carry firearms contributed to a rise in violent gun crime.”

In Maui County, 11 concealed-carry weapon licenses have been issued to nine people, two of whom got two permits each for different firearms, Maui police said.

“We are processing 34 permit applications and have distributed 358 permit applications,” said Alana Pico, information and education specialist for the Maui Police Department. “Regarding Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s statement today, we are discussing this issue.”

A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health released Sept. 20 found a significant increase in firearm assaults in states that relaxed concealed-carry permit restrictions.

Hawaii is among 25 states that require state or local law enforcement to issue civilians a permit to carry a firearm if they meet criteria based on their criminal history or training requirements, according to the study.

The rate of assaults with firearms increased an average of 9.5% relative to forecast trends in the first 10 years after states relaxed restrictions on civilians carrying concealed firearms in public, the study found.

Firearm permits and licenses

The Honolulu Police Department will hold a public hearing on draft rules guiding the issuance of firearm permits and licenses at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Conference Room A at HPD headquarters, 801 S. Beretania St.

>> Submit written testimony at HPDLTC@honolulu.gov.

>> Find draft rules and information on how to submit testimony at tinyurl.com/hpd-ltc-draft-rules.

Honolulu Sensitive Places Bill Draft by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd