The state's most recent records show nearly 9,000 gun permits were processed in 2005, a one-year increase of 27 percent, and the biggest jump since 2000, according to the state attorney general's office.

While the record-setting pace of gun permits may be alarming to some, it shouldn't be, so long as every gun remains accounted for and in the hands of a law-abiding citizen. Ideally, that's what gun permits are for.

But guns do get stolen or are lost, only to find their way into the hands of criminals. According to Sgt. Mike Arnone of the Honolulu Police Department's firearms section, too often guns stolen in burglaries or car thefts end up "in the criminal underworld."

At present, the state has no firm grasp of the number of guns that become illegal in this way. No rule requires a gun owner to report lost or stolen guns.

With a permit system in effect, there's no reason records can't be updated when guns go missing. Requiring owners to make a report is a small but important action. Advocates from the Brady Campaign, a nonpartisan anti-gun violence lobby, believe that if police are immediately alerted about a lost or stolen gun, that would bring them a step closer to making a recovery — one that could keep that gun from being used in a crime.

Hawai'i's gun laws are already considered among the toughest in the nation with extensive criminal background checks and bans on junk plastic guns. Let's make them even tougher with a requirement that owners report stolen or missing guns.