GUN LAW REFORM ‘WITHIN 10 DAYS’
N. Zealand PM moving quickly after slaughter
New Zealand’s prime minister promised Monday to introduce new gun laws by early next week as a gun shop owner said he previously sold weapons to the man suspected of killing 50 people in twin mosque massacres Friday.
“Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms, which I believe will make our community safer,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.
The owner of Gun City in Christchurch stepped forward to say the white supremacist charged in the rampage purchased four firearms and ammunition through his website.
Owner David Tipple said the purchases were made through a “police-verified online mail order process.”
Tipple said he and his staff were “dismayed and disgusted” by the bloodshed and that they handed over all records of the sales to police.
He said his company did not sell any military style semiautomatic weapons to Brenton Tarrant.
“We detected nothing extraordinary about this (gun) license holder,” he said.
Ardern, meanwhile, also announced Monday an inquiry into the country’s security agencies to see if more could have been done to possibly prevent the massacre.
It is “a move we at Police welcome. It is important we learn any lessons we can from this tragedy,” New Zealand Police said in a Twitter post.
The police agency also said it welcomed the surrender of any firearms, but it asked that people call ahead first “for advice on the safe transport” and to give officers a heads up “given the current situation.”
Resident John Hart tweeted that he surrendered his assault rifle for destruction.
“Until today I was one of the New Zealanders who owned a semiautomatic rifle. On the farm they are a useful tool in some circumstances, but my convenience doesn’t outweigh the risk of misuse,” Hart wrote on Twitter.
“We don’t need these in our country. We have to make sure it’s #NeverAgain,” he tweeted.
As the country came to grips with the scale of the Friday tragedy, news also spread that the shooter fired his lawyer and hopes to represent himself at trial.
Court-appointed lawyer Richard Peters said the accused killer expressed no regret during their interactions.
“What did seem apparent to me is he seemed quite clear and lucid, whereas this may seem like very irrational behavior,” Peters told the New Zealand Herald. “He didn’t appear to me to be facing any challenges or mental impairment, other than holding fairly extreme views.”
Meanwhile, the New Zealand auction website Trade Me said it was halting the sale of semiautomatic weapons as it waited for more “clarity” from the government.
The company previously argued its site was the safest and most “traceable” way for people to trade legal assault weapons, but its management said the mosque massacre caused it to rethink its role.
“We’re obviously still reeling, like all New Zealanders, and our hearts go out to the victims and their families and friends,” the company said in a statement.
“It is clear public sentiment has changed in relation to semiautomatic weapons and we acknowledge that, which is why we’re putting this ban in place,” the company said.