Honolulu County prosecutors gained new authority last month to charge individuals with possessing ghost guns, but the first major incident reveals that both police and prosecutors missed key opportunities to enforce the law.
On May 13, shortly after midnight, Joseph Papa allegedly fired a ghost gun into the air on Kīnaʻu Street in Honolulu.
Records reveal that police arrested him on charges including reckless endangerment, criminal contempt, and several weapons violations, such as possession of unserialized firearm parts and carrying a firearm without a license.
However, the arrest records failed to include a charge for possession of a prohibited weapon, namely the ghost gun itself.
When the case moved to prosecutors, they charged Papa with reckless endangerment and unlicensed carry of a firearm.
If convicted, he could face an additional three years in prison under the new law due to the firearm being a ghost gun, but he was not charged with merely possessing an illegal weapon or its components.
Papa has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a court hearing in July while being held at the Oʻahu Community Correction Center.
Addressing Legal Loopholes
Since 2020, it has been illegal in Hawaiʻi to possess, manufacture, or sell unserialized firearm parts with the intent to assemble a weapon without a traceable serial number.
This statute aimed to curb access to parts that could easily be put together to create unregistered guns and positioned Hawaiʻi as one of about a dozen states to restrict ghost guns.
Sen. Chris Lee, instrumental in crafting the original 2020 legislation, remarked in March that prior to this law, there was no clear framework for prosecuting such incidents.
Although lawyers in Hawaiʻi and Maui counties effectively employed the 2020 law to charge over 50 individuals for related offenses, officials in Honolulu County faced challenges in its application.
They argued that the law pertained only to unserialized gun parts and did not extend to fully assembled ghost guns, complicating prosecution since they needed to prove intent to assemble unregistered firearms.
The issue was exacerbated by an increasing number of ghost guns being recovered by police; from April 2021 to January 2025, 33 people were arrested for possessing unserialized firearm parts, yet no charges were filed under the unserialized parts statute in Honolulu.
Recognizing the challenges, Honolulu prosecutors sought legislative action this year to tighten enforcement against ghost guns and enhance penalties for those caught with them.
Their proposal, dubbed House Bill 392, aimed to redefine ghost guns to include fully assembled weapons in addition to parts.
Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm highlighted that if a firearm lacks a serial number, it should unequivocally be classified as a ghost gun.
The newly proposed bill would categorize possession of a ghost gun as a class C felony, carrying a maximum prison sentence of up to five years.
Furthermore, it outlined increased prison time for defendants using ghost guns in felony activities, with enhancements ranging from an additional three to 15 years based on the crime’s severity.
The objective behind this legislative shift is to serve as a deterrent against the ownership and use of ghost guns.
“If individuals start to face jail or prison time regularly, it may deter them from attempting to acquire or carry ghost guns,” Alm stated in April.
As lawmakers, police, and prosecutors navigate these evolving legal frameworks, the initial case involving Joseph Papa underscores the ongoing challenges in fully implementing and utilizing the newly minted laws concerning ghost guns in Honolulu.
image source from：https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/05/hawaii-has-a-new-ghost-gun-law-will-it-make-a-difference/
