Gun control group
gives Hawaii an A- rating

Hawaii has received an A- rating from the nation's top gun control groups for the way it regulates firearms.

Officials from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Million Mom March said Wednesday that the rating is based on Hawaii's regulation of the sale and possession of guns for kids, laws that make adults liable for having loaded weapons around children and requirements that handguns be childproof in the future.

Hawaii was also noted for strengthening laws to disarm perpetrators of domestic violence and for blocking efforts to force police to allow people to carry concealed handguns in public.

"It's my hope that Hawaii will continue to strengthen its laws protecting children and families," said Sarah Brady, whose husband, Jim, was wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, in a statement.

Only five other states -- California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey -- received ratings in the A range. Thirty-one states were given D's and F's.

National Rifle Association officials said there is no correlation between crime rates and higher rating from the Brady Campaign.