Legal foreign resident sues Hawaii over gun license laws

LIHUE, Kauai — A foreign citizen living legally in Hawaii is suing the state over laws preventing him from obtaining a gun license.

The Garden Island reported Sunday that United Kingdom citizen Andrew Roberts filed the federal civil lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.

The lawsuit says Hawaii statutes restricting gun ownership on the basis of citizenship are unconstitutional denials of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The newspaper reports that Roberts, a director for the Hawaii Firearms Coalition, moved to Hawaii from England 12 years ago and established legal residency.

Roberts says this is his third gun rights lawsuit in Hawaii since 2015.

The newspaper reports Hawaii has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws and is the only state that requires firearms to be registered at a statewide level.