Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Is there a law regarding air rifles? My neighbor uses it and we live in an area with lots of children. He shoots birds on the wires, in the neighbor's yard and on the road. If it should accidentally ricochet and hit someone I would hate to think what the outcome would be. Please help us. Neighbor firing air gun
probably violating lawCall police at 911 when you see your neighbor using the air gun, said Honolulu Police spokeswoman Jean Motoyama.
Section 41-8 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu covers air guns, which are defined as any gun, rifle or pistol "designed to expel a pellet or BB shot by the action of compressed air or gas, or by the action of a spring or elastic but does not include any firearm."
Also: "It is unlawful for any person to discharge any air gun from or across any street, sidewalk, alley or public land, or any public place except on a properly constructed target range."
You can fire an air gun on private property only if doing so doesn't endanger people or property, and if the pellet or BB shot does not go outside the property. Hunters with a license also may hunt with an air gun.
A minor under 18 must be accompanied by an adult if in possession or using an air gun.
The penalty for a violation is a maximum $500 fine and/or one year in jail.
Is it against the law to charge more than 4.166 percent excise tax? Some places charge 4.17 percent, saying the computer just rounds it out.
If a company charges 4.17 percent or4.167 percent, call the state Office of Consumer Protection, 587-3222. That's the agency that would investigate.
The maximum allowed is 4.166 percent. The state Tax Department acknowledged in a Kokua Line item last year that many businesses illegally may round it out to 4.167 percent, but it has not cracked down on this because the law has not been clarified on this matter. The department, instead, was relying on first educating businesses as to what they can visibly charge a customer.
To the Mililani Town Center for sponsoring a carnival last month and positioning it so close to a residential area. Do you realize how much noise the screaming and music generates, especially late at night? Putting the carnival on the other side of the center would have made more sense, but being that it was an E.K. Fernandez carnival, I guess you had to put it on the same side as the Fun Factory. Who cares about being good neighbors. -- C.S.K. Auwe
(The carnival was held "in an area of the parking lot that fit the best," said Mililani Town Center spokesman Bob Urquhart. This was the second year that the carnival was held, at the same location.
"There were no complaints last year and only one was received this year," he said. In contrast, "lots and lots of people say they enjoy having it in the community.")
To the woman driving a white Taurus with vanity plates and an infant in the front seat on the H-1 March 26 near Waikele/Waipahu. She cut in front of our van and another van without signaling, forcing us to slam on our brakes and almost causing a bad accident. The way she drove explains all those dents in the back of the car. -- J.C./Waikele Auwe
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
