Lee Melissa: Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lee Melissa: Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 05 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7244. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
MELISSA LEE (National) 
: 
 It is a great pleasure to rise in support of the third reading of the Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill. I feel a bit like my senior whip Michael Woodhouse who said that Mr Faafoi stole his thunder. I feel like Mr Clendon has actually stolen my thunder by talking about the Aramoana incident. At the time I was a journalist and I did actually report on that case. I felt strongly about what had happened there and how the people concerned with the classification of military-style semi-automatic weapons were very very concerned about how certain people could get hold of these kinds of automatic weapons without them having any knowledge of where they got them or when they got them and about having a licence regime. 
The purpose of the bill obviously is to amend the Arms Act to amend the definition of military-style semi-automatic firearms and place restrictions on the importation of airguns that look like restricted weapons. I know that Mr Clendon and other speakers have talked about the case of  
Lincoln v 
New Zealand Police 
 where the classification was disputed and the police actually lost the case hence we are trying to define what a military-style semi-automatic weapon is. 
But I wanted to talk about the replica firearms issue. In the past on different bills I have spoken about being a victim of a home invasion. I had a pistol placed to my forehead. I had no idea whether it was real or it was a replica. Standing there you have to think that it was real. When you are a victim you want to know that you are safe. At the time when that pistol was placed to my head I did not feel safe. We need to make sure that these replica firearms are not imported into this country and that there are certain restrictions placed on them to make sure that people actually feel safe. 
 Police estimate that there is one incident a week when a member of the public presents an airgun that looks like a real pistol military-style semi-automatic firearm or restricted weapon requiring an armed police response. That is too many—too many responses by the police and often it is a waste of time. I have heard of a situation where an armed robber held up a replica firearm in order to hold up a TAB. He ended up getting shot and killed. They eventually found out that it was actually a replica and was not a real gun but the people were actually threatened and everybody believed that it was real including the police. 
We need clarification on this to make sure that people—the public the police and even the offenders themselves—are safe so that they are not shot and killed. This is a good bill making sure that there are clear restrictions on military-style semi-automatic firearms and it will keep police and everyone safe. It is a good bill. I commend it to the House.