HONOLULU — A record high total of 8,835 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2007, marking a 9.8 percent increase from the previous record high of 8,049 applications processed in 2006, according to the Hawai'i Department of the Attorney General.

The department yesterday released its annual report detailing state firearm registration statistics for Calendar Year 2007.

Of the applications processed in 2007, 94.2 percent were approved and resulted in issued permits. according to a news release from the Attorney General.

A record high of 4.8 percent were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within a specified time

period, according to the news release.

A record low of 0.9 percent were rejected due to one or more disqualifying factors. By comparison, the most current national data show a 2.4 percent rejection rate for all state and local agencies conducting background checks in 2003.

The 8,326 permits issued statewide in 2007 cover a record high total of 21,784 firearms registered. Just under half (10,401, or 47. 7 percent) of the firearms registered during 2007 were imported from out-of-state, with the remainder (11,383, or 52.3 percent) accounted for by in-state transfers (i.e., firearms that were already in Hawai'i), according to the news release.

Firearm registration activity increased considerably over the eight-year period in which these data have been compiled and reported. From 2000 through 2007, the number of permit applications processed increased 36.2 percent, the number of firearms registered surged 60 percent, and the number of firearms imported rose 43.9 percent, the news release said.