Letter to editor of Southland Times: Imagination Gun Crimes

March 11, 2026

By NZB3

Editor,
I’m surprised to read on your front page from Monday (9/3) that a Southland man was charged with possession of a prohibited firearm.

The astonishing thing is that the police search could find no gun because, according to the defense, it was AI generated and shared to Snapchat. An informant received the picture via a third party and alerted the police.

If our police and courts are now handing out sentences for imaginary crimes then the Southland man is small potatoes.

Wondering if New Zealand Police will be raiding Weta Workshop for creating CGI effects of unlicensed and permitted activity. Many scenes in Lord of the Rings, Avatar, and King Kong show illegal activity.

Would the Civil Aviation Authority like to bring in Robert Downey Jr. for flying in an Ironman suit without clearance to do so? Superman too.

Actor Sam Neill was a captain of the Soviet nuclear submarine ‘Red October’ back in the 1990s and I don’t believe he was qualified then or now. The fact it was all special effects and fiction is no longer a defense!

How many dams and orcs did Peter Jackson destroy? Taika Waititi blows up planets and I bet he has no authority to supervise the polar bears in his Superbowl commercial even if they are artificial!

Temuera Morrison would be responsible for every action of every clone Stormtrooper in Star Wars. Every blaster shot, every space ship, speeder, injury, murder, death, kill. Remember how he nearly got Yoda? Judge Mark Williams of Gore District Court needs to bring these things to his attention.

The Southland man with the imaginary gun has been in custody since before Christmas and is to be released almost immediately, you report.

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Image ref. Justice Williams, Press