The new laws are set to be in place by April 11 and a buy-back scheme costing up to NZ$200 mn would be established: PM
- New Zealand will ban military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles under tough new gun laws following the killing of 50 people in its worst mass shooting, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
- In the immediate aftermath of last Friday’s shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, Ms. Ardern labelled the attack as terrorism and said New Zealand’s gun laws would change.
- All semi-automatic weapons used during the terrorist attack on Friday March 15 will be banned.
- Ms. Ardern said she expected the new laws to be in place by April 11 and a buy-back scheme costing up to NZ$200 million ($138 million) would be established for banned weapons.
- All military style semi-automatics (MSSA) and assault rifles would be banned, along with parts used to convert weapons into MSSAs and all high-capacity magazines.
- Under existing gun laws, a standard A-category gun licence allows semi-automatics limited to seven shots.
- Australia banned semi-automatic weapons and launched a gun buy-back after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 in which 35 people were killed.
- New Zealand, a country of five million people, has an estimated 1.2-1.5 million firearms, about 13,500 of them MSSA-type weapons.
Powerful lobby
- That has created a powerful lobby that has thwarted previous attempts to tighten gun laws. Federated Farmers, which represent thousands of farmers, said it supported the new laws.
- Ms. Ardern said more reforms would cover the firearm registry and licensing.
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