Story Reveals Just How Little Honolulu’s ‘Ghost Gun’ Law Was Actually Needed

No gun control law is actually needed. I’m going to start off with that to head off some comments that I can see coming. You and I may well understand that such laws are an infringement to our rights and are completely unnecessary in keeping the peace.

But a lot of people think otherwise, and enough of them are Hawaiian lawmakers at the state and local level that certain laws have been passed that curtail the right to keep and bear arms.

That includes a ban on privately made firearms, which the media loves to call “ghost guns.”

But a recent story that was likely meant to highlight a problem with Honolulu’s ban actually shows just how little any such law was needed.

In the four years since Hawaiʻi made it a felony to manufacture or possess unserialized parts used to create firearms, the number of ghost guns that police are recovering has increased dramatically. 

Honolulu police reported 68 cases involving a ghost gun in the first 10 months of 2024 alone — a nearly 120% increase from that same period the year before, according to data presented to lawmakers in February.

Yet not a single person in Honolulu has been charged for possessing these untraceable weapons, which pose a threat to the state’s strict gun regulations and low gun violence rates. 

Prosecutors say they have pursued other firearms charges against people caught with ghost guns, but that the current law — written to deter people from obtaining and manufacturing black market weapons — is unusable because it doesn’t apply to already-assembled guns and requires them to prove that someone intended to build an unregistered gun. 

Let’s be real here, 68 cases over more than three-quarters of the year doesn’t sound like a significant problem. I’m pretty sure Honolulu had way more crime than that, especially since at least some of these cases were people who were just found with a privately made firearm on their person, but who weren’t connected with any other crimes, which means the use of privately made firearms isn’t exactly a pressing problem.

Further, if prosecutors are able to pursue other firearm charges against those caught with the guns, then why was a law necessary in the first place?

If the laws already on the books can be used, there’s no reason to create another law, even if you despise privately made firearms. Making laws for the sake of making laws is beyond ridiculous, especially when an existing law can do the job.

And that’s if you actually think gun control is necessary.

Especially since violent crime has never depended on these kinds of guns in the first place. It wasn’t until the media made a big deal out of privately made firearms that criminals even knew these were an option. They had other ways to get guns and weren’t shy about using them. That was true in Honolulu and everywhere else.

But Honolulu is nothing if not anti-gun. They’ll likely try to change the law that isn’t needed so they can get some charges filed and pretend that they’ve accomplished something.

They won’t have, though.