Russell DeborahDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn): I begin by noting the work done by MPs across the House on the Finance and Expenditure Committee especially the work done by our chairman Michael Wood; the work done by Assistant Police Commissioner Tusha Penny and her team and also the officials from New Zealand Police who did an extraordinary job for us along with the clerks of our committee. They worked long and hard.This bill is personal. It's personal to all of us in New Zealand. Let me start with some facts about firearms. About 50 of us die every year from firearms. About 90 percent of those who die are male and the factor that is most significant for suicide is ready access to firearms. Nearly 40 percent of farm suicides involve firearms. So firearms matter in this country. Let me give you another fact to do with what happened in Australia before and after gun law reform. Between 1996 and 1997 before gun law reform in Australia there were 13 fatal mass shootings. But from 1997 through till May 2016 the last date I have the figures for there were no fatal mass shootings in Australia. That was the significance of gun law reform in Australia. Why is this personal? Well these facts come from some research some notes compiled by Dr Hera Cook and Dr Marie Russell from the University of Otago—and yes that is my Aunty Marie. It's personal. All of us in New Zealand know about this stuff.This bill is personal; it affects people in my electorate. I have here a submission from Mr Raymond O'Brien who wanted to be heard by the select committee but we simply didn't have time to hear every one and heard only a small proportion of people. Mr O'Brien is a shooter and in particular he likes and has a business in shooting semi-automatic weapons. He operates a gun range and he is deeply concerned about the ability of people to participate in sports at high-level sporting events. But the committee has decided not to allow that sporting exception. This is not a Commonwealth or Olympic sport—some of the recognised sporting events that we all recognise. It's participated in by a very small group of people in this country—perhaps 80 to 100 people who participate in international events using semi-automatics. As the New Zealand Police have pointed out people who want to participate in a three-gun shoot can still do so using a .22. It's still possible to do it. Aside from that the real business is weighing up the interests of all of us in public safety. Firearms are a public health issue in New Zealand. We need to consider them in that context and although people do enjoy that particular sport the rest of us enjoy being safe and we enjoy safety not just from the actuality of firearms' fire but from the threat of it. That is why we need to regulate to ensure that these highly lethal weapons are not available to us. So Mr O'Brien your submission was read and heard and considered but on balance we have decided that these weapons should not be allowed for sporting purposes.The bill is personal. We heard from Rural Women New Zealand who pointed out that when it comes to guns in rural communities they are the ones who clean up the mess. They see no reason for hunting to be carried out with automatic weapons. In fact their line was that if there is a perceived need for semi-automatic firearms then the shooter needs to learn how to shoot. That sentiment is echoed by my Uncle Terry who has hunted in the back country of Taranaki for decades. Any hunter" he says "who thinks they need a semi-automatic are wrong. Real hunters don't use them." This bill is personal. My friend Anjum Rahman spoke to the select committee representing the Islamic Women's Council. She's been my friend for a decade or so now. She says "There are spaces in our mosques that will never be filled." This bill is so personal to the Muslim community. A man in my community was in the Linwood mosque that day. Our Muslim community have lost friends neighbours whānau. We have lost friends neighbours whānau. New Zealand is so small that we all will have personal connections to this bill: we all know hunters we all know shooters we all know doctors and medics; we all have Muslim friends neighbours and whānau. This bill is personal and we must ensure that it is passed now."