Applications for firearm permits in Hawai'i are setting new records, and law enforcement officials are concerned more guns are being stolen and more are being used by drug dealers.

A total of 8,695 private firearm permit applications were processed in Hawai'i in 2005, the latest year for which numbers are available. That was an increase of 27 percent over 2004 and the highest number since the state began keeping count in 2000, according to the state attorney general's office.

Hawai'i has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, and one of the lowest rates of firearms-related deaths. The state had only 3.45 firearms-related deaths per 100,000 residents in the five years to 2004. By comparison, the number for Washington, D.C., was 29.1.

The recent high-profile shooting death of an off-duty deputy sheriff has drawn attention to the issue of gun control. The .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol that was used to kill Daniel Browne-Sanchez early Saturday was reported stolen in the 1970s, police said.

Gun owners are not required by law to notify police of a stolen firearm. Law enforcement officers are worried that legal weapons are stolen and make their way into the black market, where they can be used in the commission of a crime.

"The shooting death of deputy sheriff Browne-Sanchez this past weekend by a convicted criminal using a stolen gun illustrates the tragic consequences of illegally obtained firearms in the wrong person's hands," said FBI assistant special agent in charge Robert Kauffman.

Authorities also are finding that local drug dealers are arming themselves at an alarming rate. While gun violence in the illegal drug trade is not rampant, law enforcement officials are concerned that when they find drugs they usually find firearms.

"The biggest problem that we run across is the connection with firearms and drugs," said Tracy K. Elder, resident agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. "Quite honestly where you find a lot of crystal methamphetamine, you are going to find firearms and when you put the two together you have an explosive situation.

"The good thing that we do have here ... (are) very strict firearm registration laws on the books. They are stricter than the majority of the states. That has helped out tremendously to keeping gun crimes at minimum."

GOOD RECORD

Hawai'i is ranked second only to Massachusetts as having the strictest gun control laws by George Soros' Open Society Institute.

The Brady Campaign, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization aimed at preventing gun violence, gave Hawai'i's gun laws an "A-" in 2005.

"We don't deal a lot with Hawai'i gun laws because you have very good gun laws already, and Hawai'i ranks near the top in terms of public safety," said Zach Ragbourn, spokesman for the Brady Campaign. "On the whole, there is not a whole lot of room to criticize Hawai'i on gun laws."

According to the Hawai'i Department of Health, between 2001 and 2005 there were 188 firearms-related deaths in the state, 132 of which were ruled as suicides, two accidental and 43 homicides.

The exact number of firearms in Hawai'i is not known, but Honolulu police estimate it at more than a million. With that many guns in circulation, it is hard for authorities to keep them out of the hands of criminals.

"There are so many guns on this island that it is virtually impossible to stop the unregulated transfer of firearms. If you want a gun, you can get it," said Ronald Becker, an attorney who is chairman of the Criminal Justice Program at Chaminade University. "That said, you don't want to draw too many generalized conclusions from one isolated instance. Firearm crimes are still an anomaly among our crime statistics."

FEAR FACTORS

The increase in firearm permits in recent years was fueled in part by anxiety generated by Sept. 11, 2001, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the state's battle with illegal drugs, according to gun advocates and dealers.

"We had a ton of people come to us after 9/11 afraid of something happening inside the United States," said Harvey F. Gerwig II, president & director of the Hawai'i Rifle Association and a licensed firearm safety instructor. "That concern hasn't gone away with Iraq, and Iran now looming and all of our National Guard guys overseas, there is a lot of concern (for personal safety)."

In Hawai'i, crimes associated with crystal methamphetamine and other illegal drugs, such as burglaries, assaults and car thefts, have prompted many to seek protection in the form of gun ownership.

Dale Hayama, owner of Young Guns on Pa'a Street in Mapunapuna, said owning a firearm helps some people feel a sense of security.

"Basically, the amount of nuts out there has increased. People are crazy out there because of the ice epidemic and people need to protect themselves," Hayama said. "A gun gives them a sense of security."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.