Machetes are common tools in Hawaii, including for crime

In an island nation covered in dense jungle and farmland, machetes are common tools used for clearing dense vegetation and splitting coconuts.

And sometimes they are instruments in dangerous crimes.

There was said to be an 18-year-old man hitting a family member with a machete in Waipahu last month when he was shot by Honolulu police, according to police. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and has not been charged.

Gun violence in Western Oahu has focused attention on firearms recently, but knives and other sharp instruments such as machetes are more commonly used to commit crimes in Hawaii, according to FBI Uniform Crime statistics. That’s in stark contrast to the US as a whole, where guns are more often used in violent crimes, statistics show.

Machete attacks can be gruesome and high-profile in a state where so many residents carry them in their cars or keep them in their garages.

The prevalence of this type of violence over gun violence is partly due to the state’s strict gun laws, which could lead some to turn to a knife or cutting instrument as a more easily accessible weapon, said Chris Marvin, of National Gun Control. advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.

But while attacks with knives or machetes are concerning, they are usually not as deadly as those involving guns, making gun control a higher priority for gun regulation advocates, he said.

“Overall, our violent crime rates are also lower than most places on the mainland, so that speaks to how well our gun laws are working to prevent the most violent, deadly drugs from getting into the wrong hands for the wrong reasons,” he said . .

Legal to own and transport

Police departments in Hawaii do not police crimes specifically involving machetes, but their possession and transportation is legal in Hawaii and they are not considered weapons under the state’s deadly weapons statute.

The the law makes it a crime crime for unauthorized people to conceal the fact that they are carrying other weapons including dirks, daggers, metal knuckles and blackjacks, which are weighted clubs.

The weapons were previously prohibited from being carried out in public, but a measure signed into law by Governor Josh Green in May allows them to be carried as long as it is done openly. The measure also ended the state’s ban on butterfly knives, a type of pocket knife commonly used in Philippine martial arts, and allows people to carry them openly.

Hawaii’s gun law was relaxed in response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which expanded the rights of gun owners to carry their firearms in public. After the new law came into effect, a second amendment pleads walked through Kapiolai Park carrying a battle axe.

The weapons covered by Hawaii’s deadly weapons statute are primarily used to defend oneself or attack another person, while machetes are designed as agricultural tools, said Alan Beck, a San Diego-based attorney who represents clients in many gun cases in Hawaii.

In a statement, the Honolulu District Attorney’s Office said a machete “may be considered a dangerous instrument if used in a manner likely to cause death or serious bodily harm.”

Machetes can end up in crimes because they are communally owned, easily accessible and, like kitchen knives and other legal but potentially dangerous instruments, difficult to regulate, said Senator Karl Rhoads, Senate Member for Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs. Affairs Committee.

While edged weapons may be more commonly used in violent crimes, guns remain a priority for lawmakers because of their lethality, Rhoads said.

“Guns are more deadly, so those are the weapons we have to work harder to keep out of the hands of people who are going to use them in illegal ways,” he said.

Crimes involving knives

According to FBI Uniform Crime statistics, 17% of violent crimes in Hawaii over the past five years were committed with knives or cutting instruments, compared to 7% with a gun. The human body – hands, fists or feet – is by far the most common weapon, used in 38% of crimes, according to the FBI.

By comparison, in the US as a whole, guns were used in 18% of violent crimes and knives or cutting implements in 12%.

In Mississippi, which has some of the loosest gun laws in the country, according to the Giffords Law Center, handguns are used in 21% of violent crimes, while knives and cutting implements are used in 8%.

However, guns are still the weapon of choice in Hawaii for certain crimes. In Honolulu last year, guns were used in 14 homicides, while knives or cutting instruments were used in six, according to the Honolulu Police Department’s annual report.

But criminals with machetes still make headlines.

A 21-year-old man reportedly gave birth in July two people attacked and vandalized cars with a machete in Kalihi, according to KITV. A 19 year old man attacked an 18 year old with a machete at Ala Moana last June, according to KHON. And in Hilo, a 65-year-old was charged last November hitting a woman on the head with a machete and hitting a man with a baseball bat, according to Hawaii News Now.

In April 2023, Maui County police on Molokai shot and killed 39-year-old Nathaniel Naki, who was holding a machete under his armpit.

Bill Harrison, an attorney representing Naki’s family in a lawsuit against Maui County and the officers involved in the shooting, said Naki was not wielding the machete in a threatening manner when police opened fire.

“In this case, it’s pretty clear from the (body camera) video that he never challenged them with the machete, it was under his arm,” Harrison said. “He may have taken a few steps toward them, but he never waved the machete.”

Harrison said machetes are common on Molokai, which is largely rural, and Naki used the tool to clear paths in the woods or trim weeds in the garden.

The officers were not criminally charged with shooting Naki, but Harrison said he was still reviewing the discovery in the civil case.

Maui Police spokeswoman Alana Pico did not respond to a question about police policy regarding the use of deadly force against a person holding a knife or machete.

When asked about Honolulu police policy, spokeswoman Michelle Yu referred a reporter to the department’s use of force policy, which limits the use of force to times when it is “objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances as presented to the officer at the time.” considered. of the incident.”

“They are everywhere”

Takeshi Aoki, owner of Aframes Tokyo, a knife store and sharpening business in Honolulu’s City Square Shopping Center, said he sells two or three machetes a week, ranging in size from 12 to 20 inches and priced from $29 to more than $100. Customers mainly use them for yard work or clearing vegetation, he said.

They are also sold at many hardware stores, including Home Depot and Lowes.

Donald Wilkerson, a criminal defense attorney based on the Big Island, said he bought his latest machete on Amazon and uses it to cut through the jungle when he goes hunting.

“I have two,” he said.

Ken Sheffield, owner of a specialty artisan knife shop called Aloha Blade, said their popularity likely dates back to Hawaii’s plantation days, when they were used in the fields to cut fruit and sugar cane.

Many people still prefer to use machetes over power tools like chainsaws because they are human-powered.

“I believe it has to do with the availability and the immediacy of it,” he said. ‘It’s here, I’ll have it in my hand in two seconds. I don’t have to plug it in and start it up.”

Their ubiquity makes it more likely that they will be used occasionally by someone wanting to commit a crime or defend themselves.

“They’re cheap, they’re everywhere,” he said. “It’s just what’s available, really.”