Firearm Buying Process
Pistols/Handgun Buying Process
* You must take one of two safety classes before you are able to buy - Hawaii Pistol Safety Class which is held at Kona Guns and Ammo once a month (usually on the last Sunday of each month) please visit the store front to register for the next class. The Hawaii Hunters Education class also qualifies for purchasing (you must also pass a background check!)
* Once you have taken one of those classes the next step is to buy a firearm from a authorized Dealer and take the receipt and your class certificate to the firearms department at the Kona Police Station (first office on your right) and a Money Order for $43.25 (if its your first time buying any firearm in hawaii only) the $43.25 fee is just a one time fingerprint fee, background checks are free.
* Background check will take a minimum of 14 days and you will recieve a call from the firearms department when your permit is ready - you will only have 10 days from when the permit is issued to pickup your handgun from the dealer you bought it from or you will have to reapply if its over 10 days.
* Once you pickup your handgun you will have 5 days to bring it back to the firearms department to get it registered.
* You only need to take the safety class once and you can buy as many handguns as you want and more than one can be bought at a time, each handgun will have its own permit, buying more than one at a time makes it easier than buying at separate times.
Long Gun (Rifle & Shotgun) Buying Process
* No safety class is needed to buy a long gun but you still need to get a background check done.
* You need to apply at the Kona Firearms department and if its your first time buying a gun then you will need a money order for $43.25 just once for your fingerprints.
* It will take a minimum of 14 days to recieve your long gun permit (background check), you will recieve a call from the firearms department when it's ready for pickup.
* Long gun permits to buy last 1 year and within that year you can buy up to 99 long guns, thats a permit to buy, you dont need to renew your permit the next year if you dont want to buy anymore.
* With your long gun permit, you can come in to a gun shop and buy any rifle or/and shotguns and take it that same day again multiple long guns can be purchased at once no problem.
* You will have 5 days to take your rifles and shotguns into the firearms department to register them (you will recieve a registration-proof of ownership for each gun).
