New Zealand bans military-type firearms
Print Edition
NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced a ban on military-style semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines like those used at the Christchurch mosque shootings last week.
Ardern said a sales ban was effective immediately to prevent stockpiling and would be followed by a complete ban on the weapons after new laws were rushed through.
She said people could hand over their guns under an amnesty while officials develop a formal buyback scheme, which could cost up to NZ$200 million (US$140 million).
The man charged in the attacks had purchased his weapons legally using a standard firearms license and enhanced their capacity by using 30-round magazines “done easily through a simple online purchase,” Ardern said.
“Every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned,” she said.
The ban includes any semi-automatic guns or shotguns that are capable of being used with a detachable magazine that holds more than five rounds. It also extends to accessories used to convert guns into what the government called military-style weapons.
It does not include semi-automatic .22 caliber or smaller guns that hold up to 10 rounds or semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns with non-detachable magazines that hold up to five rounds. The guns not banned are commonly used by farmers and hunters.
The government said the police and military would be exempt as would businesses carrying out professional pest control. Access for international shooting competitions would also be considered.
There are nearly 250,000 licensed gun owners in New Zealand, which has a population of 5 million people. Officials estimate there are 1.5 million guns in the country.
Ardern’s announcement comes as authorities said all 50 bodies from the attacks were formally identified and families were burying their loved ones.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said investigators were trying to conclude their work at the two mosques.
“We are working to restore them in a way that is absolutely respectful,” he said.
At least nine funerals took place yesterday, including of a teenager, a youth soccer coach and a Muslim convert who loved connecting with other women at the mosque.
After Ardern’s announcement, one of New Zealand’s largest gun retailers, Hunting & Fishing New Zealand, reiterated its support of “any government measure to permanently ban such weapons.”
“While we have sold them in the past to a small number of customers, last week’s events have forced a reconsideration that has led us to believe such weapons of war have no place in our business — or our country,” Chief Executive Darren Jacobs said in a statement.
Regardless of the ban, the company would no longer stock any assault-style firearms of any category and would also stop selling firearms online, he said.
Although the exact weapons used in the mosque attacks have not been made public, images of them posted by the gunman show at least one of them to be a semi-automatic rifle similar to an AR-15 that is widely available in New Zealand.
Semi-automatic refers to a firearm’s ability to self-load, not only firing a bullet with each trigger pull, but also reloading and making the firearm capable of firing again. The military versions most resembling the AR-15 rifle are the M16 and M4 carbines, which can fire in semi-automatic mode, three-round burst mode or fully automatic mode.
Many different types of firearms, from pistols to rifles and shotguns, can be semi-automatic. Semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 can often be modified with aftermarket parts, or accessories, to fire in fully automatic mode and instructions can often be found on the Internet.
An Australian white supremacist, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, has been charged with the killings and is scheduled to appear in court on April 5.
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