Arriving at a clear definition and common understanding of which semi-automatic firearms have a military-style configuration has dominated debate about gun-control legislation in New Zealand since 1992.
To be granted either endorsement, the applicant must demonstrate to police good cause for possessing MSSAs and the application must be supported by two referees who are current endorsement holders, serving members of a firearms-related organisation, bona fide collectors or persons able to demonstrate a genuine long-term interest in firearms.
Transitional arrangements were made by the police to allow owners of such weapons to either register them, obtaining the necessary firearms endorsements if required, or dispose of them.
The National Shooters Association of NZ (formed largely as a result of the reinterpretation) laid a complaint on 12 August 2009 with the Independent Police Conduct Authority regarding the advertising of the change.
[10] Proceedings had already been lodged by the Association's president Richard Lincoln at the High Court in Palmerston North on 29 June 2009, aiming to have the revised interpretation overturned.
[11] In a subsequent hearing for an injunction to protect the litigant, Justice McKenzie ruled that the police did not have the power to re-classify any firearm and that their opinion on the extended definition of pistol grips was "inconsequential" and that was a matter for the Court to decide.
[citation needed] The police have ceased advertising their opinion and removed reference to the "Check Your Stock" campaign from their official website.
The "Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Act 2012"[12] aimed to clarify the MSSA definition in regards to Airsoft and Paintball guns, as well as magazine capacities.
Amendment summary: Intended effect: On 15 March 2019, a far right white supremacist opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people and injuring 40.