Ross Jami-Lee: Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ross Jami-Lee: Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 22 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2285. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany) 
: 
 It is good to see the Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill back in the House for a second reading. I wish to endorse many of the comments that have been made already this evening by a number of members of this House including the Minister of Police the Hon Anne Tolley. Can I also congratulate the Hon Judith Collins on bringing this bill to the House in the first place and seeing it through a first reading and getting it into the Law and Order Committee. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: A fellow east Auckland MP. 
JAMI-LEE ROSS 
: A fellow east Auckland MP. She is now a South Auckland MP in the electorate of Papakura.  
I am not quite as passionate on disarmament as one of the previous speakers—Harold Valentine Ross Robertson if I may use his full name—when he was talking about disarmament but I do think he made some salient comments around the desire of New Zealanders not to see firearms normalised in New Zealand to the point where it becomes commonplace for people to carry arms and utilise them on a daily basis. I do accept that there are strong and passionate gun owners in New Zealand who do use guns in an appropriate manner hunting being one of those. Mr Deputy Speaker I know you are a passionate hunter yourself and I have a number of friends who keep threatening to take me out hunting one day. I have not yet been game enough to do so. I may end up going one day.  
Hon Member 
: Go duck hunting. It’s great fun. 
JAMI-LEE ROSS 
: Duck hunting. Ha ha! But on the point about military-style semi-automatic weapons I think it is appropriate that we legislate further in this area. There are virtually no import controls on replica firearms. This is a concern because replica firearms are frequently being used for criminal offending. These replicas are easily mistaken for real firearms which makes them attractive to criminals.  
When this Government came into office in 2008 one of our key pledges in the law and order area was to give police greater powers to keep the community safe. We have done things like boosting police numbers 600 new police on the beat. We have given them Tasers; we have given them powers around DNA testing and car crushing laws. This bill is an extension of that policy of giving police more powers to enforce law and order issues in New Zealand.  
Police estimate that there could be up to one incident a week where a member of the public presents an airgun that looks like a real pistol military-style semi-automatic or restricted weapon requiring an armed police response. Those of us who have been in office for a while and certainly in my time on the council I do remember a number of instances particularly in the South Auckland area where there have been firearms presented and where there have been issues to do with firearms that have actually led to death. Any issue to do with firearms that leads to death of an innocent individual is an issue that we must take seriously. Tightening import controls would reduce the easy availability of these replica firearms and anyone planning to import these replicas would in future require an import permit. These are some of the changes in this bill that are welcome and we need to be supporting.  
I wish to just touch on the point that has been raised by a number of members about community input into firearms policy. I do see in the minority report and in the comments made by the Minister here tonight that there is going to be greater community input into firearms policy. The police are looking to establish an arms advisory group. We know from the police’s history that the police work extremely well with local communities extremely well with interested parties and I am sure that the police will do very well in working with those with an interest in firearms policy through the arms advisory group. 
 Just finally I wish to touch on some further points raised in the select committee report. It is around the minority report from another party. It is not the Labour Party and not the Green Party. I will leave it to members to pick up the report and read it but I have to say I found some of the comments a little distasteful. The arguments that were being made in this minority report were essentially arguing that we should have the US-style right to bear arms in our nation and I just do not think that New Zealanders would wish to see our country go down that track. 
Hon Member 
: Mr Crimp? 
JAMI-LEE ROSS 
: It was not Mr Crimp. It was someone who knows Mr Crimp though. Firearms in New Zealand are not at the point yet and I hope they never get to the point where New Zealanders fear on a regular basis firearms-wielding individuals. But the risk that we could have in New Zealand if firearms were to become normalised in local communities in suburban areas away from the hunting community—where firearms are held regularly and are carried regularly by individuals—is that it would be putting this country in a situation that I think many New Zealanders would be very very concerned about.  
Yes there are rights of individuals to live their lives as they see fit but the State must put in place restrictions on those rights and freedoms for the public benefit and for public safety and I think that on the topic of firearms we must lean towards public safety. We must be cautious about policies that are put in place and we must support legislation that sees the likes of military-style semi-automatic firearms having controls placed on them.  
The question also of the general arming of the police is something that I think a lot of New Zealanders would have very strong views on and the types of comments made in this minority report which argues strongly for greater gun ownership I think many New Zealanders would find distasteful and would disagree with.  
This is a good piece of legislation. I am looking forward to debating it further in the Parliament and to its going through the Committee stage and third reading. I endorse the bill and ask the House to support it further.