Have you ever wondered what a Hawaii with more guns in more places might look like?

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting the “right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense” has forced the Honolulu Police Department to begin changing permit procedures for carrying guns in public.

I recently moved back to Hawaii from a state which loosened gun laws over the last several years and I can tell you what my experience was like.

I moved to Missouri 20 years ago, spending the better part of the last two decades in one of its major cities. In 2008, the Supreme Court’s Heller decision extended 2nd Amendment protections to individual gun ownership for purposes such as self-defense.

After the Heller decision, some states, such as Hawaii, continued to keep guns largely out of community spaces. Others, such as Missouri, vastly increased the ability of an individual to carry guns into public areas. Here are some of the things I observed in Missouri.

Daily Gun Deaths

Living in a region with more guns meant gun violence and gun death were much more common. In the local news it was common to read about gun deaths daily.

According to the Giffords Law Center, on average, Hawaii has one gun-related death every seven days while Missouri has one gun-related death every seven hours. Living in a region with more guns also meant more shootings in areas where I spent time with my family.

To name just a few examples, on our walking route to a neighborhood park, a leader of a music nonprofit was shot while sitting in his car, and at the local major-league ballpark, a fan was grazed by a stray bullet during a game.

Although carrying a gun for self-defense may seem safer, living in a state with looser gun laws and more guns meant being surrounded by more gun violence.

I was concerned about guns being used in situations where emotions could run high. During our time in Missouri, there were multiple shootings connected to workplace or other disputes. In one notable example from a nearby suburb, a person with a history of conflict with the city government shot seven people at a city council meeting, including the mayor, council members, and police officers.

Nor is harm from guns always directed outward. In fact, as terrifying and common as gun homicides are, the biggest contributor to gun deaths in Missouri and nationally is suicide.

When we think about more people carrying guns in more places, we should remember that people have days where they are under duress and think carefully about what protections are in place at the individual and regulatory levels to prevent this kind of harm.

Exposure To Guns

I worried about my children’s exposure to guns, both in the types of shootings I described above, and also via unintended exposure due to a gun left unsecured. Elementary school children in Missouri have brought guns to school and have accidentally shot and killed family members.

Missouri is not alone in these issues. A 2021 national survey found that less than half of firearm owners with children stored their guns unloaded and locked. As people consider bringing a gun into their household for protection, they should be aware that having a gun in a household carries risks to children and ask themselves whether their family will actually be safer.

Do not misunderstand me. It would be easy to think that I mean that gun owners are careless or irresponsible when that is the opposite of the truth. The folks I personally knew in Missouri who owned guns were knowledgeable people who cared about their families and communities.

Likewise, this piece is not about hunting, which has a long tradition both in Missouri and Hawaii. My focus is specifically around acknowledging the risks of having more gun availability for the reason of self-defense.

If you are not a gun owner but are considering one for protection, realize that there are also risks to gun ownership, including to those in your household.

If you are a gun owner, please talk to people considering applying to carry about the responsibility and effort that goes into safe storage and gun ownership.

Regardless of where you stand, I urge you to pay attention to the gun regulations as they evolve here in Honolulu. Be sure decision-makers know that the levels of gun exposure and violence on the mainland in states such as Missouri are unacceptable here.