Victoria's parliament has shot down a move towards legalising non-lethal self defence weapons.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman on Wednesday called for a parliamentary committee to investigate permitting devices such as tasers and pepper spray.
"We can ignore this, we can not pass this, but I don't want to have to raise this again after another person has been murdered without an option for them," he told the upper house.
The motion was debated in the Legislative Council and resoundingly defeated with 33 votes to six.
Labor MP Harriet Shing argued the motion was a "cosmetic fix" rather than addressing the core problem of violence, particularly against women.
"Ultimately a motion like this seeks to address the symptoms of a problem which we must tackle if we are to be serious about the issue of treating women with respect," Ms Shing said.
She said the motion was impossible to support in its current form.
The Reason Party's Fiona Patten also opposed the move.
"More weapons in our society is not the answer, less violence in our society is the answer, changing the mindset that causes people to feel they have permission to rape women, to sexually assault women, that's what we need to change," she said.
But independent MP Catherine Cumming signalled her support.
She told the chamber when she was a teenager a man tried to drag her into his car from a bus stop.
After reporting it to police she carried aerosol deodorant as a form of defence.
The murder of 21-year-old exchange student Aiia Maasarwe, who was killed on her way home to La Trobe college, prompted Mr Bourman to renew his push.
In the past he has called for "people of good standing" to be able to legally obtain items to defend themselves.
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