“Magnum P.I.” ran for 162 episodes — 1980 through 1988. Not all episodes had Magnum discharging his Colt MKIV/Series 70 Government Model 1911, but Magnum shot a lot of bad guys with it. I recall this Magnum episode — with Thomas dispensing justice by extinguishing the life of a very bad man.
Although CBS reprised the series, I had no interest in watching it. Tom Selleck is Thomas Magnum. The reality is, if Magnum existed in present-day Oahu and discharged his weapon, even in self-defense, most of the series would have seen Magnum in jail or in court, because he would have been arrested by a bug-eyed police chief who seems to belong in New Zealand, not the USA. In 2024, if you discharge a gun defending yourself or those around you, you will be arrested. At least by this police chief.
The police chief of Honolulu was happy to announce that it didn’t matter if you have “license” to carry a gun and you are defending yourself and, in fact, stop a mass shooting on your own property you will be arrested for murder. A few days ago the following happened:
Three people were killed and two others injured in a shooting at a home stemming from a dispute between neighbors on Saturday night in Waianae, a west Oahu community. The shooter was also fatally shot by a resident, who was arrested on a second-degree murder charge, police said.
Police Chief Arthur Logan (he wants you to call him “Joe”) told the local paper that in the state of Hawaii and in his city, you cannot defend yourself based on “stand your ground” principles. He said:
“In Hawaii, we are a non ‘stand your ground’ state. Even if you have a license to carry, if you’re an individual that discharges a firearm that is involved in injuring another person, … you’re going to be arrested.”
Oh, ok Arthur. The Hawaii Penal Code begs to disagree with Mr. Logan:
§703-304 Use of force in self-protection. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 703-308, the use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by the other person on the present occasion.
(2) The use of deadly force is justifiable under this section if the actor believes that deadly force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, rape, or forcible sodomy.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section, a person employing protective force may estimate the necessity thereof under the circumstances as he believes them to be when the force is used without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act which he has no legal duty to do, or abstaining from any lawful action.
Logan had the man arrested although it seems pretty clear that he killed a would-be mass-murderer and was defending himself and others. Logan had the man who stopped a mass-shooting arrested for “second-degree murder.” Logan seems like a man high on his own fumes. The days of “Magnum P.I.” are over. To repeat, “In Hawaii, we are a non ‘stand your ground’ state,” he said. “Even if you have a license to carry, if you’re an individual that discharges a firearm that is involved in injuring another person … you’re going to be arrested.” Arthur will have you handcuffed, perp-walked, booked, photographed for murder. Yes, the man who stopped a mass murder was eventually released, but he will forever be the guy “arrested for murder.”
Nothing like chilling a constitutional right, Arthur.
Short story.
My son had just returned from a deployment in Afghanistan. He and a buddy were with dates. It was 2:00 a.m. They crossed a street midstream and immediately were “lit up” by Honolulu cops for “jaywalking.” My son was rightfully incensed and asked why he and his buddy were being cited for jaywalking at 2:00 a.m. “It’s dangerous,” replied the overweight cop to the two combat vets. As the cop was writing the citations, two prostitutes jaywalked in front to the cops. My son asked if they were going to cite the women-of-the night for the same thing. The cop just smiled and went back to writing the citations.
I’ve always thought that Hawaii was overrated. I have a choice where to spend my vacation dollars. Hawaii won’t be seeing any.
