What's the history of restrictions?   Were residents allowed to own weapons pre-annexation, during the territorial period, statehood when the Republicans were still in charge?  Was there ever a period where you felt your state was "good on guns?"

Actually, for gun rights in the State, it went down hill in early 90's.  If I remember correctly, I met one guy that had gun registration paperwork from the Territory of Hawaii for his pistol.

To answer the short question, owning firearms in Hawaii prior to the 1990s was easier.

Yes, they had the permit process for long guns but there was no registration for them. Only for pistols.

Supposedly, during the 80s, HPD Donald Gibb was issuing may issue CCW permits during his tenure.

The continuous erosion of the 2A all started in the 90s and was frequently backed by HPD Chief Michael Nakamura.

My first firearm was a mini-14 bought in 1976.  I walked into Honsport, paid my $200 bucks and walked out.  No registration required.  Seemed painless, especially when compared to nowadays.

I've been researching the history of gun laws in Hawaii since 1930's when there was a major revision to the statutes.  I've also looked through old 1900's newspapers and firearms were still restricted back then too.  There were permitting and registration requirements. Carry permits were also very strictly regulated back then.  We had sugar cane plantations way back then and that was another layer of firearms restrictions by the owners.