Allow Law-abiding Hawaii Citizens to Bear Arms! Issue Hawaii Concealed Carry and/or Open Carry Licenses!

The United States Constitution AND the Hawaii State Constitution both state: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

While the state of Hawaii has many laws that clearly infringe on the right to keep arms, perhaps no law is more egregious than the de facto “no issue” law (it is theoretically “may issue”) that has resulted in NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF HAWAII currently being "granted" a concealed carry license to legally exercise their right to bear arms (aka "carry" either concealed and/or openly) outside their home for the purpose of self-defense.

There are well over 13 million CCW license/permit holders in the 49 other states that allow citizens to exercise their right to bear arms outside their homes (and many more in the eight states that allow “constitutional carry” where no permit/license is required and thus there is no record of their numbers). These people, over many years, have proven to be not only far more law-abiding that the general population, but even more law-abiding than law enforcement officers.

Why do the government officials of Hawaii treat law-abiding citizens as if they are criminals who have been deemed unworthy and ineligible to exercise a natural right that has been guaranteed against government infringement by our Constitutions? They have no rational or logical rationale, nor do they have any evidence to suggest that law-abiding Hawaii citizens would act in any ways other than lawfully to defend themselves and others in the face of threats of grievous bodily injury.

While it's possible that some relief may come from court cases, it's more likely we need to demand that the laws be changed by the Hawaii legislature to make Hawaii a “shall issue” state, wherein any non-prohibited person according to current law must be issued a CCW license upon completion of a background check. There will be a bill before the Hawaii legislature next session, SB 95 ( http://capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=95), to create a “shall issue” law for Hawaii. With enough signatures, perhaps we can influence enough legislators to see the validity of our exercising our legal right to bear arms. It's our only chance other than the remote possibility of a high-level appeals court ruling Hawaii's current laws unconstitutional. I personally believe that "Constitutional carry" is the only truly lawful condition for exercising our right, but Hawaii needs to take a first step.

Please join other law-abiding Hawaii citizens in asking our public servants to legally recognize our Constitutionally-guaranteed right to bear arms for self-defense. Thank you. Mahalo.