Mosque shootings: New Zealand to announce new gun laws

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she would announce new gun laws within days, after a gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

The premier said at news conference after her cabinet reached in principle decisions on gun reform laws in the wake of New Zealand’s worst ever mass shooting.

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.

In addition to the 50 killed, dozens were wounded at two mosques in the South Island city during Friday prayers.

Gun City owner David Tipple said the alleged gunman legally bought four weapons and ammunition online from the store between December 2017 and March 2018, however it did not sell him the high-powered 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 in Christchurch.

Under New Zealand gun laws, A-category weapons can be semi-automatic but limited to seven shots.

Tipple said he supported Ardern’s move to reform gun laws as the Christchurch shootings had raised legitimate concerns.

Ardern did not detail the new gun laws, however has said she supports a ban on automatic weapons following the Christchurch shootings.

Australia introduced some of the world’s toughest gun laws after its worst mass killing, the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in which a lone gunman killed 35 people using a semi-automatic AR-15 – the same weapon used in the Christchurch massacre.

Australia banned semi-automatic weapons, launched a national gun amnesty in which tens of thousands of guns were handed in, and made it much tougher to own firearms.