Honolulu mayor signs concealed-weapons bill

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Friday signed Bill 57 into law, establishing “sensitive” locations where the “public carry of firearms” is prohibited and setting signage requirements for businesses and charitable organizations to indicate whether guns are allowed on their premises.

Set to take effect May 1, Bill 57 is meant to be consistent with a law-abiding citizen’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms yet prevent people from publicly carrying firearms — namely, legally permitted concealed guns — at retail, industrial, commercial or wholesale establishments unless allowed by those establishments, as well as at city, state and federal government facilities and at schools, from preschools to colleges and universities.

The new law also does not allow the public carry of firearms at financial institutions, hotels, child care facilities, health care facilities, homeless and juvenile shelters, bars and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol, and places frequented by children, including public parks.

The prohibition additionally extends to polling sites, mass transit, transit centers and rail stations, theaters, stadiums, museums, amusement parks and medical cannabis dispensaries. Also, anyone with a legally permitted concealed firearm must stay 100 feet away from large gatherings such as public protests and parades.

Other prohibited sites for carrying firearms include the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center, Waikiki Aquarium and Honolulu Zoo.

“We labored over every one of those (locations), and I feel very, very comfortable with that list,” Blangiardi said during a news conference inside Mission Memorial Auditorium.

In addition, the new law prohibits the carrying of firearms into private businesses or charitable establishments unless expressly authorized by those businesses or organizations. The law also mandates business establishments and charitable organizations to post sign­age if they do permit firearms on their premises.

To that end, signs created by the city — one reading “Guns Not Allowed” and the other “Guns Allowed,” both with a black silhouette of a handgun inside a black- outlined circle on a white background — will be offered to businesses and organizations for free. Those that do not wish to allow firearms on their premises are not required to take any action, and the signs are not required.

Businesses or organizations that do allow firearms on their premises must have a “Guns Allowed” sign posted in sufficient quantities and in plain view to be clearly legible from any point of entry onto the premises, according to Bill 57.

Daniel Gluck, the city’s deputy corporation counsel, said the city has been “working to create signs for businesses and charitable organizations to put up in their establishments,” particularly near entrances.

“Most businesses are going to have an actual door for patrons to enter, and so for those businesses you just need an 8-1/2-by-11 paper with this design on it,” he said.

The city will make the signs available to download “so you can print them for yourself and tape them up at your business,” Gluck said. The signs also will be distributed at satellite city halls, Honolulu Hale, Kapolei Hale and other locations.

Businesses and other locations that don’t have a physical door through which patrons enter will be offered 18-by-24-inch versions of the same signage — “a little larger so people would be able to see,” Gluck said. “Again, if businesses want to allow firearms on their properties, they will have to have (this sign) posted.”

Bill 57, first introduced by the Blangiardi administration in September, was prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June in the case of New York State Rifle &Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen that overturned New York’s state law that required a license in order to carry a concealed weapon in public.

“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is a constitutional right to carry a gun in public, meaning that Hawaii had to loosen its standards and allow more people to carry guns in public,” Scott Humber, the mayor’s director of communications, previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We are complying with that ruling, and the Honolulu Police Department has already started issuing licenses to individuals to carry concealed firearms in public.”

Blangiardi said he disagrees with gun rights advocates — many of whom appeared at Honolulu City Council meetings to voice opposition to Bill 57 — who believe the measure is unconstitutional.

“I think we were given the prerogative as a county to determine what it was we wanted to do. With that, we took license and developed this piece of legislation,” Blangiardi said. “I do not believe it’s unconstitutional. I think, in fact, we are in the process now … of receiving applications (for concealed- carry permits) and having those applications reviewed. We have already been giving out permits to carry … and have been upholding that under the law.”

As far as potential legal challenges to the new law, the mayor said he does not believe the city will be sued over what he called a “fair” piece of legislation that made “great sense.”

“But I’ve been told to expect that, so I would be disingenuous if I told you (otherwise),” Blangiardi added. “So we’ll see what plays out.”

Honolulu Police Maj. Eric Yosemori told the Star- Advertiser on Friday that police would enforce the new ordinance to the full extent of the law, with violators facing misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor charges.

“Like with every law, if someone violates it, then they would get arrested,” Yosemori said. “Definitely, if there’s calls for service, we’re going to respond, and we’ll investigate and take whatever necessary action that’s needed.”

Still, Yosemori could not say how difficult or easy the new law will be to enforce.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. … This is a whole new territory for all of us,” he said. “We’ll do what we can and make the best judgments. … The main thing is that we protect the whole community.”