WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- The estimated quarter of a million gun owners across New Zealand are bracing for what are likely to be significant changes to the country's firearm laws. Leaders have hinted the changes will affect the proliferation and availability of semi-automatic weapons in particular.
The changes, agreed to in principle by the country's coalition government Monday -- just 72 hours after the deadliest act of gun violence in New Zealand's modern history -- put the country in line with others that have taken swift action after tragedy within their borders. Details of the changes will be announced within the week, and they must be passed by parliament.
A gunman who pledged allegiance to white nationalist causes killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday, authorities have said. He has been identified by police as 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant and has been remanded on one charge of murder with more to follow.
The death toll exceeds New Zealand's annual homicide rate; 35 people were killed in 2017, the latest year for which figures are available.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern labeled the massacre "the worst act of terrorism on our shores" and immediately promised swift action, calling for gun laws to be changed.
"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 Monday. "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 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.
CITIZENS' SUPPORT
Ardern's declarations have been celebrated by many in New Zealand, some of whom had no idea that military-style semi-automatic weapons were so prolific in a country known for its extremely low murder rate.
On Monday, the e-commerce website Trade Me, which is similar to eBay, halted the sale of semi-automatic weapons on its platform.
"We've had a lot of contact from Kiwis over the weekend about this issue, and many felt we should stop the sale of these items in the wake of this attack," Trade Me said in a statement. "We've listened to these sentiments and we've put this ban in place while we await clear direction from the government."
John Hart, a gun owner, said on Twitter that he had given up his AR-15 rifle and ammunition because his "convenience doesn't outweigh the risk of misuse."
Still, some gun dealers have bristled at the idea that they or the weapons they sell are culpable in Friday's events, and they have resented being put on the spot.
"We have good laws; we've always had good laws," said Wayne Chapman, owner of The Gunshop in Upper Hutt, a city northeast of Wellington. His store, he said, "has not seen a surge or had any problems."
David Tipple, managing director of Gun City, one of the largest firearms retailers in New Zealand, called a news conference Monday to announce that Tarrant had bought four guns from Gun City's online store and had them delivered through mail.
Gun City has been the focus of criticism and has seen small protests outside its stores in recent days. Many on social media have said a billboard outside the store's Christchurch outlet, which shows a man teaching two young children how to shoot, is in poor taste considering the country is in a state of mourning over the killings.
In an exchange with reporters, Tipple pushed back on the allegation that the guns he sold Tarrant were the exact ones used in his attacks. Tipple said the guns were "A-category" guns, which can be bought with the most basic weapons license.
Assault rifles are A-category guns as long as they have magazines that hold only seven rounds. The weapons seen in a video of the massacre that was live-streamed had much larger magazines.
One gun owner who owned several AR-15s, but has since given them up, said they only cost $1,200 in New Zealand but would cost $25,000 or more in Australia on the black market, as they are effectively banned there.
"You can get an AR-15 from anywhere really, and while the [30-round magazine] is not allowed legally, they will fit and they will work," said Pete Breidahl, a gun owner and former competition shooter who recently gave up his firearms license. "How, in 2019, can this still be going on? How has this loophole not been fixed?"
New Zealand, like the United States, has no requirement for gun owners to register their weapons, unlike many countries in the world.
The tightened gun laws would put New Zealand in line with several other countries that have changed legislation in the wake of tragedy. The Port Arthur massacre in Australia in 1996 shook the continent and led the Pacific nation to change gun legislation, strictly restricting self-loading rifles and other weapons.
A shooting at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, that same year also prompted a campaign for tighter restrictions on firearms, which led to a virtual ban on civilian ownership of handguns.
Still, New Zealand has made the decision in almost record time. In Australia, it took 12 days after the mass shooting for the government to finalize changes to legislation. It took almost two years for the ban on handguns to become law in the United Kingdom in 1998.
Experts argue that New Zealand has been on the cusp of changes in gun legislation for years but never had political unity around the issue.
Four inquiries have been undertaken by government in recent years. A 1997 review recommended that all guns should be registered and that the government institute a full buyback of all military-style assault weapons, similar to what was done in Australia.
These suggestions, said Philip Alpers, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Sydney and founding director of GunPolicy.org, "are all now back on the table."
The government's decision, he said, has been in part motivated by the frequency of mass shootings in the United States, which has some of the most lax gun laws in the world.
"There is a baseline determination not to go down the American road," he said.
TRUMP'S REMARKS
President Donald Trump said Monday that he is unfairly being blamed for the New Zealand mosque massacre.
Trump tweeted that the media "is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand." He added: "They will have to work very hard to prove that one."
Trump had expressed sympathy for the victims, but he played down the threat of white nationalism across the world, saying he didn't consider it a rising threat despite data suggesting it's growing.
Tarrant, the suspect in last week's massacre, left a document in which he called himself a white nationalist and referred to Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity."
Tarrant did not enter a plea during his initial court appearance Saturday and was remanded in custody. He is expected to face more charges when he next appears in court on April 5.
His court-appointed lawyer, Richard Peters, said Tarrant has fired him. He said Tarrant plans to represent himself in court.
Tarrant appeared to be "quite clear and lucid" on Saturday and did not show any regret, Peters said.
"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.
Information for this article was contributed by Shibani Mahtani, Emanuel Stoakes, Anna Fifield, Brett Cole and William Branigin of The Washington Post; and by staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/19/2019