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Lahaina Recovery Update for December 20230:00 Introduction0:37 Puamana2:16 Shark Pit3:00 Lahaina Shores3:38 Banyan Tree4:00 Lahaina Harbor4:25 Front Street6:26 Mala Wharf8:01 Wahikuli12:26 Front Street13:16 Baby Beach14:29 Opukea15:03 Lahainaluna16:10 Front Street17:36 Shark Pit19:53 Puamana

A coalition of leftist Attorney Generals for sixteen states and the District of Columbia has filed an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit appeal by the State of Hawaii, claiming state power to ban common arms is essential. On August 7, 2023, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit reached the unsurprising conclusion that knives, particularly the type of pocket knife called a “butterfly knife” or “balisong,” were bearable arms. Therefore, they were protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution, and the State of Hawaii did not have the legal authority to ban them. On September 20, 2023, the...

On August 8, 2023, In the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the case of Wolford v. Lopez.The case was filed on June 23, 2023, and has been written about previously on AmmoLand. The plaintiffs asked for a TRO for five of fifteen so-called “sensitive places” in the new Hawaii law. Judge Kobayashi issued the TRO for most of the places asked for by the plaintiffs, with some exceptions. Whether the other places which are labeled as “sensitive places” in the law will be upheld by...

In 1999, Hawaii enacted a categorical ban on possessing, carrying, and using butterfly knives or “balisongs.” The knives had been legal to possess before that time. In 2020, the ban on butterfly knives was challenged in court. The District Court upheld the ban. The ban was appealed to the Ninth Circuit. On August 7, 2023, the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court, ruling the Hawaii ban was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court Bruen decision (June of 2022) was cited in the ruling. Of particular interest is the logic used by...

On July 25, 2022, Todd Yuktake and Justin Solomon filed a federal lawsuit against the Attorney General of Hawaii, Holly T. Shikada, for infringement of the right to keep and bear arms, specifically against the state of Hawaii’s ban on “billies” or “batons” outside the home. Billies were likely chosen, in part, because no procedure exists in Hawaii to allow the carry of short clubs outside the home. Over the course of the case, the AG changed from Shikada to Lopez. From the complaint: 6. The State of Hawai‘i generally bans the possession of “deadly or dangerous weapons” outside the...

On March 3, 2022, a lawsuit was filed against the City and County of Honolulu. The plaintiff, Michael Santucci, was a naval officer (an LTJG, or O2) with a top-secret clearance, working as a Cryptologic Warfare officer. In Hawaii, all firearms must be registered except for firearms made before 1899 or which are designed to use loose black powder.During the registration process, in early July of 2021, Santucci truthfully answered that he had seen a medical provider for feelings of depression and homesickness. Santucci was not diagnosed with any significant “behavioral, emotional, or mental disorder.” Because Santucci truthfully answered the...

* The hole may be leaking 'fault lubricant' that reduces stress on two plates * The fault could unleash a magnitude-9 earthquake in the Pacific Northwest * READ MORE: Extra layer of plate tectonics could be causing tremors in Pacific ============================================================= Scientists fear a hole in a 600-mile-long fault line in the Pacific could trigger a catastrophic earthquake that would decimate cities along the northwestern US. The hole spewing hot liquid sits 50 miles off the shoreline of Oregon, on the boundary of the dipping fault known as Cascadia Subduction Zone, which spans from Northern California into Canada. This geological...

On August 19, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals summarily remanded the Young v. Hawaii case back to the District Court for a re-hearing after the Supreme Court granted cert, vacated the previous Ninth Circuit decision, and remanded the case back to the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing. In 2011, George Young applied twice to obtain a permit to carry a firearm for self-defense outside his home in Hawaii, either openly or concealed. Both his applications were denied by the Chief of Police, Harry Kubojiri, who cited Hawaii law.Young filed a lawsuit claiming his Constitutional right to keep and...

The Second Amendment Foundation is joining the arguments in court against the extraordinary process the state of Hawaii requires people to go through if they want to purchase a gun. The organization announced it has filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of consumers who, in Yakutake v. Hawaii, have challenged a couple of "cumbersome" state laws. "This is a case," explains the brief, "where a state-actor purports to comply with the Constitution’s text and Supreme Court case law, while intentionally undermining the fundamental right at issue. In fact, Hawaii is only engaged in a kind of malicious compliance." The foundation...

@TheTomGeorge NEW: Hawaii Rep. @TulsiGabbard introduces bill called ‘Protect Women’s Sports Act’ — would clarify Title IX protections to be based on biological sex, which would impact transgender athletes participating in athletic programs for women and girls.

@TulsiPressToday I introduced the Break Up Big Tech Act with @RepGosar to remove #Sec230 immunity for tech companies who act like publishers, censoring and manipulating users, treating us and our attention like products to make their billions.

Tensions flared at a Senate hearing on Antifa when a top Democrat walked out of the room declaring she couldn’t sit through Sen. Ted Cruz’s rhetorical speeches any longer. The dustup occurred when Cruz, R-Texas, blasted Democrats for not condemning Antifa more directly for the violence and destruction that has taken hold in certain U.S. cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. But Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Cruz just wasn’t listening during the more than three-hour hearing when Democrats said violence is not acceptable. “Sometimes I don’t think you listen,” Hirono told Cruz at the Senate...

Murders/Suicide at Pearl Harbor were by Active Duty Armed Guard On 4 December 2019,at about 2:30 p.m. in Hawaii, at the Pearl Harbor shipyard, an armed sailor guarding the nuclear attack submarine the Columbia, shot and killed two shipyard workers and wounded a third. The armed guard then killed himself with his government-issued M9 9mm Beretta pistol The guard used his government-issued M4 carbine (5.56 mm) to kill the two civilian workers and wound the third. From heavy.com: The Columbia is a Los Angeles-class submarine, meaning it is a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine. At the time of the attack, the...

More than 100 House Democrats -- nearly half of the new majority -- have signed on to a new single-payer healthcare bill that supporters describe as "battle ready." If by "battle ready," they mean, "extremely controversial, deeply politically risky, and totally bereft of any acknowledgement of the proposal's eye-poppingly exorbitant costs," they're undoubtedly correct. Politico's story on the legislation is full of extraordinary tidbits and quotes. Here are some of the most important facts we've learned: (1) The bill "doesn’t include a price tag or specific proposals for financing the new system, which analysts estimate would cost tens of trillions...

It didn’t take long for progressives to turn on Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) after she announced Friday that she was throwing her hat in the ring for 2020. Her cardinal sin? Not only did she previously hold anti-gay views—she actively worked against the LGBT community through her father’s organization, The Alliance for Traditional Marriage and Values, in the early 2000s.

“Although it is too early to pinpoint any details with regard to specifics related to potential impacts to the islands, forecast confidence is increasing each day as the guidance remains in very good agreement,” the National Weather Service in Honolulu said. Olivia would be the second tropical system to hit the Hawaiian Islands this year. Hurricane Lane dropped more than 50 inches of rain across the Big Island last month. The storm was the second-wettest tropical system to affect the United States and the wettest tropical system on record in Hawaii, surpassing Hurricane Hiki in 1950. Some rain from Olivia...

During a conversation with his late daughter, Vietnam War veteran George Young explained the importance of the Second Amendment.However, his daughter, Tim, was shocked to find out that her father could not carry a handgun in the state of Hawaii.“I made the promise that they cannot take your Second Amendment away,” Young said in an interview with Reuters. “So to prove it to her, that's when I started.”After his daughter died in a car crash in 2004, Young decided to keep his promise and began a journey to fight the state's gun laws that may end at the Supreme Court.At...

On Thursday, July 19, on the Hawaiian  island of Maui, a victim of a home invasion fired an AR15 style rifle at one of three armed home invaders. The trio hastily retreated, firing shots as they left the residence.  There were three victims of the home invasion. The suspects are reported to have taken $3,000. No one is reported as being hit by gunfire.  From staradvertiser.com The bandits forced one victim into a bathroom, then walked through the house. A second victim armed himself with an AR-15 rifle and fired a round at the robbers, nearly striking one. The...

The suspected gunman who fatally shot a Hawaii County police officer during a Tuesday night traffic stop and then fled into a wooded area was the subject of an intense dragnet Wednesday, as authorities combed the Big Island just 20 miles from where lava flows recently devastated residential areas. The Hawai'i Police Department said in a news release that officers were conducting a traffic stop around 9:45 p.m. along Highway 11 in Mountain View, located about 15 miles southwest of Hilo, when the driver of a vehicle -- identified as 33-year-old Justin Waiki -- got out and fired "multiple shots"...

Hawaii’s new law requires current and future gun owners to register in the FBI’s “Rap Back” system. The FBI calls it their Next Generation Identification Program, which is currently used to track the actions of people who are part of ongoing criminal investigations. If someone enrolled in the database has contact with law enforcement, an alert is issued through the FBI. Now the program will be used to track the actions of all law-abiding gun owners in Hawaii—and not just residents. SB 2954 requires law enforcement to request a “Rap Back” on anyone requesting a firearm license or registering a...