MPs back urgent gun reform

Hamilton’s National Party MPs are backing calls for swift gun reform in the wake of the Christchurch Mosque attacks.

Hamilton East’s David Bennett and Hamilton West’s Tim Macindoe said the public appetite is such that parliamentarians must not delay.

‘‘There is no need for any debate,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘We’ve reached the stage where the public opinion is certainly in that space.’’

Fifty people were killed in the Friday attacks and gun law changes were at the top of the agenda at a Cabinet meeting yesterday. Another 34 people remain in hospital, 12 of them in critical condition.

Bennett expects New Zealand to follow international examples with a ban on military style semiautomatic firearms.

And it needs to be done under Parliamentary urgency, he said.

‘‘These events are enabled by having relaxed gun laws and it’s not something New Zealand wants, needs or can tolerate.’’

Macindoe calls for a bipartisan approach.

‘‘I, personally, don’t understand why it’s necessary for anybody to have possession of a semiautomatic rifle. I can’t imagine what the legitimate purpose would be,’’ Macindoe said.

‘‘We’ve got to take the politics out of this issue. This is about responding appropriately to a devastating incident.’’

New Zealand will never be the same again, he said, and public confidence needs to be restored.

‘‘Up until now, this type of thing always seemed theoretical – we’ve always known it could happen. Well, now it has and the response needs to be appropriate and proportionate because we need to give all our citizens confidence that we will learn the lessons that need to be learned.’’