New Zealand PM Ardern targets gun reform laws

World
Europe

Tightening the country's gun laws is at the top of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's agenda as she meets with her cabinet members on Monday for the first time since the mass shootings in two mosques in Christchurch that killed dozens of prayers.

The death toll from the shootings stands at 50, with another 50 people injured, after a gunman burst into a mosque and opened fire on worshippers with a semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines, and then attacked a second mosque.

28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant was charged with murder on Saturday. Tarrant was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5 where police said he was likely to face more charges.

A Police officer is seen at the tribute of the Christchurch mosque shootings, March 17, 2019. /VCG Photo

Ardern was the first signatory of a national condolence book for the worst peacetime mass killing in New Zealand that she opened in the capital Wellington on Monday.

"On behalf of all New Zealanders, we grieve together. We are one. They are us," she wrote in the book.

The shock of the attacks has led to calls for an immediate tightening of laws to restrict access to some firearms, particularly semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 rifle used by the shooter in Christchurch.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (L) and Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy sign national condolence books at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. /VCG Photo

"What the public rightly are asking right now is why is it and how is it that you are currently able to buy military style semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand, and that's the right question to ask," said Ardern.

"There are ways we can bring in effective regulation of firearms that actually target those we need to target and that is our focus."

New Zealand, a country of only five million people, has an estimated 1.5 million firearms.

A Gun City store is seen on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019./VCG Photo

A Radio New Zealand report said more than 99 percent of people who applied for a firearms license in 2017 were successful.

After Ardern vowed at the weekend to change the gun laws, there were media reports that people were rushing to buy guns before any ban was implemented.

New Zealand's top online marketplace Trade Me Group said it was halting the sale of semi-automatic weapons in the wake of Friday's attacks.

High school students embrace as they give hugs to Muslims waiting for news of their relatives at a community center in Christchurch, March 18, 2019. /VCG Photo

Police were out in force on Monday to assure Christchurch residents of their safety as they returned to their weekday lives, after a lockdown affected parts of the city on Friday after the shootings.

And Australian police executed two search warrants in towns on the New South Wales mid-north coast related to the investigation.

Source(s): Reuters