Hawaii Carry Laws

License Required to Carry - Shall-Issue with Extensive Sensitive-Places Limits

Hawaii requires a license to carry a handgun. Since the post-Bruen 2023 amendments, HRS 134-9(a) is shall-issue for concealed carry ('the chief of police of a county shall grant a license') for qualifying residents 21+ who complete the required training (134-9(d)-(e)); open-carry ('unconcealed') licenses remain discretionary under 134-9(b), requiring the applicant to establish urgency or need. All firearms must be registered under HRS 134-3 ('Registration, mandatory'). HRS §134-9.

LICENSE REQUIRED TO CARRY - SHALL-ISSUE WITH EXTENSIVE SENSITIVE-PLACES LIMITS
Hawaii

Hawaii requires a license to carry a handgun. Since the post-Bruen 2023 amendments, HRS 134-9(a) is shall-issue for concealed carry ('the chief of police of a county shall grant a license') for qualifying residents 21+ who complete the required training (134-9(d)-(e)); open-carry ('unconcealed') licenses remain discretionary under 134-9(b), requiring the applicant to establish urgency or need. All firearms must be registered under HRS 134-3 ('Registration, mandatory'). HRS §134-9.
Authority: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-9 (current post-Act 52 (2023) text, capitol.hawaii.gov hrscurrent via Wayback raw snapshot 2025-05-05; live site Cloudflare-walled); registration: HRS § 134-3 (same route, snapshot 2025-03-03).

Hawaii Private Property - Special Rules After Wolford

Hawaii: Since 2023, HRS 134-9.5 makes it a misdemeanor to carry onto another's private property without express authorization; on June 25, 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court (Wolford v. Lopez) struck that default rule for private property OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, while the express-authorization requirement remains for property not open to the public, and HRS 134-9.1's sensitive-places bans (misdemeanor) are unaffected.

HAWAII PRIVATE PROPERTY - SPECIAL RULES AFTER WOLFORD
Hawaii

Hawaii: Since 2023, HRS 134-9.5 makes it a misdemeanor to carry onto another's private property without express authorization; on June 25, 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court (Wolford v. Lopez) struck that default rule for private property OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, while the express-authorization requirement remains for property not open to the public, and HRS 134-9.1's sensitive-places bans (misdemeanor) are unaffected.

Authority: Wolford v. Lopez, No. 24-1046 (U.S. June 25, 2026); HRS §§ 134-9.5, 134-9.1.

Magazine Limit - 10 Rounds Maximum

Hawaii: Max 10 rounds for pistols Possessing large-capacity magazines may be a crime.

MAGAZINE CAPACITY - HAWAII

HRS 134-8(c) prohibits the manufacture, possession, sale, barter, trade, gift, transfer, or acquisition of detachable ammunition magazines with a capacity in excess of ten rounds which are designed for or capable of use with a pistol. Because many common rifle magazines (for example AR-15 magazines) can be used in pistol variants of those firearms, they fall within the ban even if you only own the rifle; magazines usable only in rifles or shotguns are outside the statute's text. The ban applies to magazines brought from other states - if traveling to Hawaii, leave any magazine over 10 rounds at home. Violation is a criminal offense.

Duty to Retreat - Castle Doctrine Only

Hawaii: Castle Doctrine applies (home defense). In public, you may have a duty to retreat if safe before using force.

DUTY TO RETREAT - CASTLE DOCTRINE ONLY
Hawaii

Hawaii: Castle Doctrine applies (home defense). In public, you may have a duty to retreat if safe before using force.

Authority: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 703-304(5)(b).

Red Flag Law - ERPO in Effect

Hawaii has a Red Flag law - Gun Violence Protective Orders, HRS 134-61 to 134-72. Courts can issue ex parte and one-year orders removing firearms from persons who pose a danger.

RED FLAG / EXTREME RISK LAW
Hawaii

Hawaii has a Red Flag law - Gun Violence Protective Orders, HRS 134-61 to 134-72. Courts can issue ex parte and one-year orders removing firearms from persons who pose a danger.

Authority: HRS 134-61 through 134-72 (Gun Violence Protective Orders, Act 150, SLH 2019); 134-61 (definitions incl. ex parte and one-year GVPO) and 134-72 (last section of the part) verified; 134-73 and 134-74 do not exist.

Vehicle Transport - Restrictions Apply; MUST Disclose Firearm When Stopped

Hawaii: Without a carry license: unloaded, locked container, separate from ammo. ANYONE carrying a firearm who is stopped by police — including as a driver or passenger in a stopped vehicle — must immediately disclose the firearm (HRS § 134-9.2, petty misdemeanor).

TRANSPORTING FIREARMS IN HAWAII

Under HRS section 134-25, firearms must be confined to the owner's place of business, residence, or sojourn. A pistol or revolver may be transported only UNLOADED and in an ENCLOSED CONTAINER - a rigidly constructed receptacle or commercially manufactured gun case that completely encloses the firearm - and only between permitted places: the place of purchase, your business/residence/sojourn, a place of repair, a target range, a licensed dealer's place of business, an organized firearms show or exhibit, a place of formal hunter or firearm training, or a police station.

Ammunition is subject to its own place-to-keep restrictions (HRS section 134-26).

PENALTY
Carrying or possessing a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver in violation of section 134-25 is a CLASS B FELONY.

LICENSE HOLDERS
Hawaii issues concealed carry licenses, but licensees remain barred from many locations under Hawaii's 2023 sensitive-places law, which has been the subject of federal litigation (Wolford v. Lopez). Do not assume loaded vehicle carry is permitted in Hawaii.

INTERSTATE TRANSPORT
Federal law (18 U.S.C. section 926A) protects transport through a state if the firearm is unloaded, not readily accessible from the passenger compartment, and lawful at both origin and destination.

Duty to Inform - Must Notify Police Immediately

Hawaii: When stopped by law enforcement — including as a driver or passenger in a stopped vehicle — you MUST immediately and unprompted disclose that you are carrying a firearm, identify its location on request, and present your license documentation; violation is a petty misdemeanor (HRS § 134-9.2).

DUTY TO INFORM LAW ENFORCEMENT
HAWAII

Hawaii: When stopped by law enforcement — including as a driver or passenger in a stopped vehicle — you MUST immediately and unprompted disclose that you are carrying a firearm, identify its location on request, and present your license documentation; violation is a petty misdemeanor (HRS § 134-9.2).

Authority: HRS § 134-9.2 (enacted 2023) — duty to immediately disclose when stopped; petty misdemeanor (read via FindLaw rendering; capitol.hawaii.gov Cloudflare-blocked automated fetch).

Private-Property Carry - Hawaii's Reversed Default (Partly Struck Down)

Hawaii flips the usual rule: HRS § 134-9.5 makes it a misdemeanor to carry a firearm onto private property of another without the owner's express authorization (unambiguous written/verbal permission or posted signage ALLOWING carry) — but the U.S. Supreme Court held that rule unconstitutional as applied to private property open to the public (Wolford v. Lopez, June 25, 2026), so at businesses open to the public exclusion now works through notice and trespass, while the statute remains for private property not open to the public.

"NO FIREARMS" SIGN LAW
HAWAII

Hawaii flips the usual rule: HRS § 134-9.5 makes it a misdemeanor to carry a firearm onto private property of another without the owner's express authorization (unambiguous written/verbal permission or posted signage ALLOWING carry) — but the U.S. Supreme Court held that rule unconstitutional as applied to private property open to the public (Wolford v. Lopez, June 25, 2026), so at businesses open to the public exclusion now works through notice and trespass, while the statute remains for private property not open to the public.

Authority: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-9.5 (Act 52, 2023); Wolford v. Lopez, 609 U.S. ___, No. 24-1046 (U.S. June 25, 2026).