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Flowers
and
cards
are seen
at the
memorial
site for
the
victims
of
Friday's
shooting,
outside
Al Noor
mosque
in
Christchurch,
March
19.
(REUTERS/Edgar
Su) |
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After
mosque
attacks,
New
Zealand
bans
‘military-style’
guns
By
JULIET
WILLIAMS
and
NICK
PERRY
APNews.com
CHRISTCHURCH,
New
Zealand
- New
Zealand
Prime
Minister
Jacinda
Ardern
on
Thursday
announced
a ban of
“military-style”
semi-automatic
firearms
and
high-capacity
magazines
like
those
used in
the
shootings
at
Christchurch
mosques
last
week.
Ardern
said a
sales
ban was
effective
immediately
to
prevent
stockpiling
and
would be
followed
by a
complete
ban on
the
weapons
after
new laws
were
rushed
through.
She
said
people
could
hand
over
their
guns
under an
amnesty
while
officials
develop
a formal
buyback
scheme,
which
could
cost up
to 200
million
New
Zealand
dollars
($140
million).
The
man
charged
in the
mosque
attacks
had
purchased
his
weapons
legally
using a
standard
firearms
license
and
enhanced
their
capacity
by using
30-round
magazines
“done
easily
through
a simple
online
purchase,”
Ardern
said.
“Every
semi-automatic
weapon
used in
the
terrorist
attack
on
Friday
will be
banned,”
she
said.
The
ban
includes
any
semi-automatic
guns or
shotguns
that are
capable
of being
used
with a
detachable
magazine
that
holds
more
than
five
rounds.
It also
extends
to
accessories
used to
convert
guns
into
what the
government
called
“military-style”
weapons.
Prime
Minister
Jacinda
Ardern
says New
Zealand
is
immediately
banning
sales of
military
style
semi-automatic
guns
like the
weapons
used in
the
attacks
on
Christchurch
mosques.
(March
21)
Tap to
unmute
It does
not
include
semi-automatic
.22
caliber
or
smaller
guns
that
hold up
to 10
rounds
or
semi-automatic
and
pump-action
shotguns
with
non-detachable
magazines
that
hold up
to five
rounds.
The guns
not
banned
are
commonly
used by
farmers
and
hunters.
The
government
said the
police
and
military
would be
exempt
as would
businesses
carrying
out
professional
pest
control.
Access
for
international
shooting
competitions
would
also be
considered.
There
are
nearly
250,000
licensed
gun
owners
in New
Zealand,
which
has a
population
of 5
million
people.
Officials
estimate
there
are 1.5
million
guns in
the
country.
Ardern’s
announcement
comes as
authorities
announced
that all
50
bodies
from the
attacks
were
formally
identified
and
families
were
burying
their
loved
ones.
At
least
nine
funerals
took
place
Thursday,
including
for a
teenager,
a youth
soccer
coach
and a
Muslim
convert
who
loved
connecting
with
other
women at
the
mosque.
After
Ardern’s
announcement,
one of
New
Zealand’s
largest
gun
retailers,
Hunting
&
Fishing
New
Zealand,
reiterated
its
support
of “any
government
measure
to
permanently
ban such
weapons.”
“While
we have
sold
them in
the past
to a
small
number
of
customers,
last
week’s
events
have
forced a
reconsideration
that has
led us
to
believe
such
weapons
of war
have no
place in
our
business
— or our
country,”
chief
executive
Darren
Jacobs
said in
a
statement.
Regardless
of the
ban, the
company
would no
longer
stock
any
assault-style
firearms
of any
category
and
would
also
stop
selling
firearms
online,
he said.
Although
the
exact
weapons
used in
the
mosque
attacks
have not
been
made
public,
images
of them
posted
by the
gunman
show at
least
one of
them to
be a
semi-automatic
rifle
similar
to an
AR-15
that is
widely
available
in New
Zealand.
Semi-automatic
refers
to a
firearm’s
ability
to
self-load,
not only
firing a
bullet
with
each
trigger
pull,
but also
reloading
and
making
the
firearm
capable
of
firing
again.
The
military
versions
most
resembling
the
AR-15
rifle
are the
M16 and
M4
carbines,
which
can fire
in
semi-automatic
mode,
three-round
burst
mode or
fully
automatic
mode.
Many
different
types of
firearms,
from
pistols
to
rifles
and
shotguns,
can be
semi-automatic.
Semi-automatic
rifles
like the
AR-15
can
often be
modified
with
aftermarket
parts,
or
accessories,
to fire
in fully
automatic
mode and
instructions
can
often be
found on
the
internet.
Polly
Collins,
64, of
Christchurch,
was
thrilled
to hear
of
Ardern’s
announcement
as she
visited
a flower
memorial
for the
victims.
“The
prime
minister
is
amazing,”
she
said.
“It’s
not like
in
America,
where
they
have all
these
things
and then
they go
‘Oh
yeah,
we’ll
deal
with the
gun
laws,’
and
nothing’s
done.”
At
the
cemetery,
solemn
farewells
continued
for
Cashmere
High
School
student
Sayyad
Ahmad
Milne,
14, who
was
known as
an
outgoing
boy and
the
school’s
futsal
goalkeeper.
Tariq
Rashid
Omar,
24,
graduated
from the
same
school,
played
soccer
in the
summer
and was
a
beloved
coach of
several
youth
teams
and was
also
buried
Thursday.
In a
post on
Facebook,
Christchurch
United
Football
Club
Academy
Director
Colin
Williamson
described
Omar as
“a
beautiful
human
being
with a
tremendous
heart
and love
for
coaching.”
Linda
Armstrong,
64, a
third-generation
New
Zealander
who
converted
to Islam
in her
50s, was
also
buried,
as were
Hussein
Mohamed
Khalil
Moustafa,
70,
Matiullah
Safi,
55, and
Haji
Mohammed
Daoud
Nabi.
Police
Commissioner
Mike
Bush
said all
50
victims
had been
identified
as of
Thursday
and
their
families
were
being
notified.
Investigators
also
were
trying
to
conclude
their
work at
the two
mosques.
“We
are
working
to
restore
them in
a way
that is
absolutely
respectful,”
he said.
An
Australian
white
supremacist,
Brenton
Harrison
Tarrant,
was
arrested
by
police
who ran
him off
the road
while he
was
believed
to be on
his way
to a
third
target.
He had
livestreamed
the
attack
on
Facebook
and said
in his
manifesto
he
planned
to
attack
three
mosques.
Also
on
Thursday,
police
said
they’d
inadvertently
charged
Tarrant
with the
murder
of a
person
who is
still
alive.
Police
said in
a
statement
they had
apologized
to the
person
incorrectly
named on
the
document
and
would
change
the
charge
sheet.
They
said the
charge
remains
valid,
so there
was no
chance
the
suspect
would be
released
as a
result
of the
error.
Police
did not
offer
further
details
of what
went
wrong or
make
anybody
available
for an
interview.
The
name of
the
person
on the
charging
sheet
has been
suppressed
by court
order.
Officials
said
more
charges
against
Tarrant
would
follow.
Tarrant,
28, is
next
scheduled
to
appear
in court
on April
5, and
Bush
said
investigations
into him
were
continuing.
Police
have
said
they are
certain
Tarrant
was the
only
gunman
but are
still
investigating
whether
he had
support.
Meanwhile,
preparations
were
underway
for a
massive
Friday
prayer
service
to be
led by
the imam
of one
of the
mosques
where
worshippers
were
killed.
Imam
Gamal
Fouda
said he
is
expecting
3,000 to
4,000
people
at the
prayer
service,
including
many who
have
come
from
abroad.
Workers
at the
Al Noor
mosque
have
been
trying
feverishly
to
repair
the
destruction,
Fouda
said.
“They
will
bury the
carpet,”
he said.
“Because
it is
full of
blood,
and it’s
contaminated.”
Fouda
said
that he
expects
the
mosque
to be
ready to
open
again by
next
week and
that
some
skilled
workers
had
offered
their
services
for
free.
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