The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence gave Hawaii's gun laws 43 points out of 100 for its alleged lack of laws that would stop the illegal flow of guns and failure to protect children, yet ranked Hawaii eighth best out of the 50 states.

The organization released the states' scorecards yesterday. California topped the list with 79 points, while Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma tied for last place with two points each.

“;Hawaii needs to do more in the 2009 Legislature to improve its standing when it comes to commonsense gun laws,”; Nadine Odera, chairwoman of the Hawaii Firearms Control Coalition, said.

But the Hawaii Rifle Association's president and director, Harvey Gerwig II, said, “;The only thing the laws do is obstruct us legal people.”; They do nothing to stop criminals from committing crimes, he said.

Hawaii was given a poor score of 3 points out of 35 for curbing firearm trafficking.

The Brady Campaign says states can fully regulate gun dealers within their borders, limit bulk purchases of handguns, provide police technology to identify crime guns and require lost or stolen guns to be reported to police.

Gerwig said Hawaii gun dealers are already well regulated by state and federal laws and must follow stringent procedures, as must gun purchasers.

He said limiting bulk purchases is “;complete baloney,”; saying the Brady Campaign thinks anyone buying two guns or more is a criminal.