HONOLULU (KHON2) — A teenager remains in the hospital on March 1 after a drive-by shooting in Kapolei on Feb. 27.

The shooting happened on a busy public road and officials said more needs to be done to curb local gun violence.

Advocates against gun violence said a 2022 Supreme Court decision which ruled the right to self-defense includes carrying a loaded gun has trickled down to a troubling trend in the Islands.

“In Hawaii, we’ve seen an almost 300% increase in permits to purchase firearms, which obviously means that we’ve seen that many more guns being legally brought onto the streets in Hawaii,” said Chris Marvin of Everytown for Gun Safety. “More guns equals more gun violence and we are seeing that play out on this island right now.”

The shooting on the night of Feb. 27 left three hospitalized — the family of a 17-year-old boy who was rounded in the drive-by said he remains in the hospital in critical condition.

Area Rep. Kanani Souza said constituents have constant concerns over ghost guns and she introduced legislation this session to increase felony penalties for perpetrators who commit a crime with those types of untraceable firearms.

“I’m a proponent of second amendment rights. And this particular bill is something that we all can agree on. It’s stopping ghost guns from being used in the commission of a felony,” Rep. Souza said. “This is an area that I traverse commonly on my way to Ka Makana Alii, the shopping mall here in Kapolei. And a lot of my neighbors, friends, constituents all traversed this particular area.”

“There’s a lot to be learned about what happened on Thursday night. But these un-serialized, unregistered, illegally produced guns that that we made illegal and also the ATF made it illegal. But they’re still hard to get off the streets. And so these are the types of laws that will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” Marvin said.

Honolulu police said on Feb. 27 that the suspect was unknown and no arrests were made, HPD did not respond to KHON2 on March 1.

“This was supposedly, allegedly a drive by shooting and there was multiple victims. And so this is happening in a residential area where there’s families who live all alongside the corner where this occurred, which is near Kapolei Middle School,” Souza said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Honolulu police.