Does Hawaii Have an Assault Weapons Ban?

Hawaii's feature definition is specific to a semiautomatic pistol that accepts a detachable magazine. Section 134-1 requires two or more of six characteristics: a magazine attaching outside the pistol grip, a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward hand grip, or silencer, a barrel shroud, an unloaded manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more, a centerfire overall length of 12 inches or more, or being a semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm.

Section 134-8 applies the possession, manufacture, sale, transfer, and acquisition provisions to the resulting assault-pistol category. The definition should not be converted into a one-feature test or applied to a rifle merely because the rifle shares parts with a pistol platform.

For an otherwise lawful handgun, Hawaii requires a permit to acquire. Section 134-2(e) makes a pistol or revolver permit void unless used within 30 days after issuance and requires a separate permit for each transaction. Section 134-3 requires firearm registration within five days. Physical inspection applies to firearms brought into Hawaii, private-party acquisitions, and specified assembled firearms or receivers. An ordinary local dealer purchase does not require bringing the firearm to police for inspection.

On September 22, 2026, the en banc Ninth Circuit reversed the district court injunction against the 30-day permit-use rule and covered physical inspections in Yukutake v. Lopez, and remanded the case. The majority found no showing that these requirements were being used abusively to materially impede acquisition. Judge R. Nelson's dissent argued that acquisition is protected by the Second Amendment and that Hawaii lacked adequate historical analogues. Judge Forrest would have affirmed on the merits but narrowed the injunction to the plaintiffs; Judge VanDyke separately argued that the rules' outlier status made them unconstitutional. The opinion alone does not establish when the reversal takes effect in county practice, and proceedings on remand may follow.

There has been no federal assault weapons ban since the 1994 ban expired in 2004; no feature restrictions apply federally to semi-automatic rifles or pistols. The 2023 ATF pistol-brace rule was vacated by the courts and is not enforced, but federal SBR classification for a brace-equipped firearm still turns on whether the specific weapon is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder. Garland v. Cargill (2024) held that a bump stock is not a machine gun under federal law. Feature bans are entirely a matter of state law.

Federal baseline verified 2026-10-20. Scope: State laws restricting semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns by configuration features: threaded barrels, pistol grips, folding or telescoping stocks, flash suppressors, forward grips, and similar. Magazine capacity limits are tracked as a separate class.