VICTORY FOR GUN SAFETY:  Following Advocacy by Hawaiʻi Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, Governor Josh Green Signs Legislation to Promote Accountability in the Gun Industry 

Since the Beginning of the Legislative session, Moms Demand Action and Student Demand Action Volunteers Have Been on the Forefront of Advocating for the Passage of this Bill, Testifying and Taking over 500 actions to Contact Lawmakers. 

HONOLULU —  Hawaiʻi Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement applauding Hawai’i Governor Josh Green for signing HB 426, legislation to establish accountability for the firearm industry. The measure creates new pathways for accountability when the gun industry engages in dangerous, negligent, and unlawful actions.  

“It’s time to hold the gun industry accountable for their role in the gun violence crisis,” said April Ching, a volunteer with the Hawai’i Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Communities are devastated by gun violence while the gun industry is profiting from pouring deadly weapons into our neighborhoods. We are grateful for Governor Green’s steadfast leadership in signing this measure and to our gun sense champions in the legislature for their commitment to protecting the well-being of Hawai’i families. 

Since 2005, The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) has shielded gun manufacturers and dealers from most lawsuits – unlike any other industry in this country, the firearm industry has been shielded from accountability for business practices that threaten public safety and put lives at risk. Yet as gun violence has worsened, in part as a result of the actions of the gun industry, the need for gun industry accountability at the state and national level is clear. HB 426 requires gun sellers and manufacturers to take steps to prevent the sale of firearms to prohibited possessors, firearm traffickers, and straw purchasers, to stop firearm theft, and to prevent the sale or marketing of illegal weapons. It holds bad actors accountable by authorizing victims of harm from firearms in Hawai’i, the Attorney General, or any county attorney or public prosecutor to bring a civil action against a firearm industry member when they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent those harms. 

Hawaiʻi has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, and with a rate of 4.2 deaths per 100,000 people, has the 2nd-lowest rate of gun deaths in the US, in large part due to  its common-sense gun safety policies.  In an average year, 61 people die by guns.. Each year, gun violence costs Hawaiʻi $901.4 million, $19 million of which is paid by taxpayers. More information about gun violence in Hawaiʻi is available here.