New Zealand moves quickly on gun reform after shootings
PROBE CONTINUES 250 detectives and specialists working on the investigation
CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she would announce new gun laws within days, after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, 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. “Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer,” Ardern told a news conference after her cabinet reached in principle decisions on gun reform laws in the wake of New Zealand’s worst ever mass shooting.
The owner of gun shop Gun City, David Tipple, said the suspected gunman had legally bought four weapons and ammunition online from it between December 2017 and March 2018, but it did not sell him the highpowered weapon used in the massacre. “The MSSA, military-style automatic, reportedly used by the alleged gunman was not purchased from Gun City. Gun City did not sell him an MSSA, only A-category firearms,” Tipple told a news conference.
Tipple said he supported Ardern’s decision to reform gun laws as the Christchurch shootings had raised legitimate concerns.
Ardern did not give details on new laws, but has said she supports a ban on semi-automatic weapons following the Christchurch shootings.
Ardern encouraged gun owners who were thinking of surrendering their weapons to do so. “The clear lesson from history around the world is that to make our community safer, the time to act is now,” she said.
Ardern said an inquiry will be held into what authorities knew or should have known about Tarrant and the events leading up to the massacre, to see whether the attack could have been prevented. There were 250 detectives and specialists across the country working on the investigation, said police.