Hawaii Denied 47 Gun Permits to Medical Marijuana Patients in 2025

Medical Marijuana Patients Face Categorical Gun Ban

Medical marijuana registration accounted for more gun permit denials in Hawaii than any other disqualifying factor in 2025. The state attorney general's office published its annual "Firearms Registration in Hawai'i" report in April 2026. It showed that 47 of 163 denied applications—29 percent—were rejected solely because applicants held valid medical cannabis cards.

Hawaii law enforcement officials cross-reference the state's medical marijuana registry with firearm permit applications. Under federal law, any person who uses marijuana remains a prohibited possessor under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), which bars firearm possession by unlawful users of controlled substances. Hawaii enforces this prohibition at the state level by denying permits to registered medical cannabis patients.

The 47 denials in 2025 exceeded rejections for felony convictions, domestic violence restraining orders, and mental health adjudications combined. No other single disqualification category came close.

Federal Prohibition Drives State Enforcement

Hawaii's denial practice stems directly from the federal Schedule I classification of marijuana, which the Drug Enforcement Administration has maintained despite rescheduling proceedings. ATF Form 4473, the federal background check document required for all gun purchases, explicitly warns applicants that marijuana use—including state-legal medical use—disqualifies them from firearm ownership.

Question 21.e on the form asks: "Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?" The instructions state that marijuana remains illegal under federal law "regardless of whether it's been legalized or decriminized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside."

Hawaii is one of several states that actively cross-reference medical marijuana registries with firearm permit databases. Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New Jersey have faced similar constitutional challenges over this practice. Federal courts have consistently upheld the prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act.

Legal Challenges Mount Nationwide

The Hawaii data arrives as multiple federal circuits weigh whether post-Bruen Second Amendment standards permit categorical bans on cannabis users' gun rights. In April 2026, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in United States v. Daniels that the federal marijuana prohibition violates the Second Amendment as applied to occasional users. That decision created a circuit split with the Ninth and Third Circuits, which have upheld § 922(g)(3).

Hawaii falls within the Ninth Circuit's jurisdiction. Existing precedent in Wilson v. Lynch (2016) held that medical marijuana users have no Second Amendment right to firearms. The Supreme Court hasn't yet granted certiorari in any post-Bruen cannabis-gun case, leaving the circuit split unresolved.

For background on the evolving legal landscape, see the CannIntel topic hub on cannabis and gun rights, which tracks federal rescheduling proceedings, circuit-level challenges, and state enforcement patterns.

What Hawaii Patients Face

Hawaii's 35,000 registered medical marijuana patients must choose between state-legal medicine and Second Amendment rights. The state doesn't offer a carve-out for patients who hold valid prescriptions or who use cannabis exclusively at home. Registration alone triggers the denial.

Patients who surrender their medical marijuana cards can reapply for firearm permits, but they must demonstrate a period of non-use. Hawaii county police departments—which process permits—require applicants to attest under penalty of perjury that they aren't current marijuana users. False statements on permit applications constitute a class C felony under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 134-7.

The 2025 denial rate—29 percent attributable to medical marijuana—represents a slight increase from 2024, when cannabis-related denials accounted for 26 percent of rejections. The attorney general's report doesn't break out how many applicants voluntarily withdrew applications after learning of the marijuana disqualification.