New Zealand government to announce gun reforms
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — New Zealand’s coalition government plans to announce gun law changes within the next week in response to Friday’s deadly shooting rampage at two mosques Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.
The measures could include restricting the military-style semiautomatic weapons that were used in the Christchurch attacks, which killed 50 Muslim worshipers and injured more than 40. Similar weapons have been used in recent mass shootings in the United States.
The death toll exceeds New Zealand’s annual homicide rate; 35 people were killed in 2017, the latest year for which figures are available.
“As a Cabinet, we were absolutely unified and very clear. The terrorist attack in Christchurch on Friday was the worst act of terrorism on our shores,” Ardern said. “It has exposed a range of weaknesses in New Zealand’s gun laws. The clear lesson from history around the world is that, to make our community safe, the time to act is now.”
The Cabinet is dominated by the center-left Labour Party but includes four members of the right-wing New Zealand First party. It is supported by the progressive Green Party, which attended Monday’s meeting.
It made a decision “in principle” about changing gun laws, Ardern said, adding that she will provide further details before the cabinet meets again next Monday.
“Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism, we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer,” she said.
The politicians’ broad agreement highlights the consensus in New Zealand that making certain types of guns less accessible could have prevented or limited Friday’s massacre.
Brenton Tarrant, 28, of Australia was arrested after the attacks and has been charged with one count of murder. He is expected to face more charges when he next appears in court on April 5. He did not enter a plea during his initial court appearance Saturday and was remanded in custody.
His court-appointed lawyer, Richard Peters, said Tarrant has fired him. He said Tarrant plans to represent himself in court.
“He didn’t appear to me to be facing any challenges or mental impairment, other than holding fairly extreme views,” Peters told the New Zealand Herald.
The lawyer suggested that Tarrant might want to use his trial to espouse his extremist white nationalist beliefs. The suspect left behind a 74-page hate-filled manifesto in which he said he wanted to”directly reduce immigration rates to European lands.” He also praised President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”
In response to criticism that he has implicitly encouraged white nationalism, Trump tweeted Monday: “The Fake News Media is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand. They will have to work very hard to prove that one. So Ridiculous!”