Mitchell MarkFIREARMS PROHIBITION ORDERS LEGISLATION BILLIn CommiteeCHAIRPERSON (Hon David Bennett): Members the House is in committee on the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Bill. I remind members that they are able to participate remotely. If you're on Zoom and want to take a call please type call" into the chat. You should also use the chat if you want to raise a point of order. If we receive new tabled amendments I will advise members so that they can refresh the House papers page to see the new amendment. Finally it would be helpful for members to ask multiple questions if they have them of the member in charge during their call. Members we now come to Part 1. Part 1—this is the debate on clauses 3 to 12 "Amendments to Arms Act 1983". The question is that Part 1 stand part. Part 1 Amendments to Arms ActHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa): Thank you Mr Chair. I'd like to say it's a pleasure to take a call on the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Bill in committee stage and as we've already indicated to the Minister we will be supporting the legislation because I guess you could take the approach that something may be better than nothing.But as the Minister knows this bill does not go nearly far enough in a whole range of areas to actually—what we feel and actually supported by the Police Association—give the front-line police officers the tools that they actually need to make a genuine and a quick impact on the massive rise in gang-related gun-related violence that unfortunately although we were told that it was a spike it will carry on. It's carried on. I see in the New Zealand Herald today there was a report of a bail reintegration centre—and I certainly hope it's not getting Government funding. But apparently the police had signalled that it was a facility that they weren't very happy about and they executed a search warrant and recovered three military-style weapons from what I understand some armour piercing - type rounds some cash and some drugs and one King Cobra gang member arrested and charged—from what I understand—with drugs.The problem's not going away Minister and so if you're going to bring legislation and you're going to take the time of the House and you're going to say that you're a Minister that's going to get serious about supporting our front-line police officers and ensuring that the public are safe then bring a firearms prohibition order (FPO) to the House that actually is going to do that.The first thing that I'd like the Minister to get up and speak to is just explain to us and talk us through the time frames how he sees the bill being implemented whether or not he has received any advice from police in terms of what they anticipate in terms of charges convictions and the sentencing regime—so i.e. how many offenders or defendants are going to actually have an FPO? Then how are they going to operationalise it and how is it actually going to work so that we get a sense that in the next six months how is this firearms prohibition order actually going to make a tangible and substantial impact on what it's been brought to the House for and that is dealing with illegal firearms; gang members organised crime members carrying them willing to use them; drive-by shootings—every day putting members of the public in harm's way creating fear and by the will of God I don't know how we've avoided a member of the public being seriously injured or killed in one of these inter-gang drive-by shootings. We've seen in the last few weeks domestic violence cases where people have been killed with firearms by gang members. So we feel on this side of the House that actually if an FPO a firearms prohibition order—which by the way the police have been asking for quite some time and it was in the briefing to the incoming Minister when Labour took over as Government in 2017. We've had two bills that we've brought to the House that have both been voted down by the Government. We think this is important but it shouldn't just be lip service. Bringing a bill to the House that's actually pretty weak probably isn't really going to do much—how are you going to operationalise it what actually tangible effects impacts is it going to have on the front line in terms of what they're dealing with in their desire to keep the public safer? So I'd like the Minister to actually stand and take us through in this committee exactly how this bill is going to work and the advice he's got in terms of what impact it's going to have on the current situation in New Zealand in relation to illegal firearms and gun violence."