New Zealand PM: There will be changes to gun laws

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.

“There will be changes to our gun laws,” she said at an afternoon news conference.

She also said she would look into reports that there had been a surge in gun sales in New Zealand since the attack on Friday.

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 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.

The shooting has vaulted New Zealand into what could be a divisive political battle over gun control in the country, where many people own weapons, with few restrictions. The authorities say the suspect in the assault used five guns he had acquired legally, including two semiautomatic assault weapons.

Licensed New Zealand gun owners pushed back. The Kiwi Gun Blog, a gun-rights online publication, said that one of the assailant’s goals was “to cause the gun rights of responsible New Zealanders to be attacked.” It said, “our prime minister is now capitulating with him.”

There is no dispute that acquiring a military-style semiautomatic weapon is relatively easy in New Zealand, where guns are plentiful. According to a 2017 small arms survey, there are more than 1.2 million firearms among the population of 4.6 million.

Under New Zealand law, anyone 16 or older may seek a firearms license, and anyone 18 or older who has applied for a firearms license can seek a permit to possess a military-style semiautomatic weapon.