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Military-style semi-automatics, assault rifles to be banned under stronger new gun laws, says NZ PM

Under stronger new gun laws, military-style semi-automatics and assault rifles will be banned, the New Zealand government said on Thursday.

According to the New Zealand Herald, PM Jacinda Ardern revealed the changes in a press conference.

Attorney-General David Parker said over the weekend that semi-automatic guns would be banned and 70,000 people have signed a petition against these types of weapons.

Recently, Ardern said that nation will observe two minutes of silence on Friday to mark one week since the deadly terror attack at two Christchurch mosques in which 50 people died.

Moreover, Ardern said that the Muslim call to prayer, Azaan, will be broadcast nationally through TV and radio. 

“There is a desire to show support to the Muslim community as they return to Mosques, particularly on Friday. To acknowledge this there will be a two minutes’ silence on the same day. We will also broadcast nationally, via TVNZ and RNZ, Azaan (the call to prayer),” she said.

Recently, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern visited the Muslim community at the Canterbury Refugee Centre in Christchurch to express her solidarity wearing a black head scarf. 

Meanwhile, The UN Human Rights Council chief Michelle Bachelet has called the terror attacks on two mosques in New Zealand that left at least 49 people dead as “racist, Islamophobic, and terrorist”.

Earlier US President Trump also dismissed concerns that the massacre by a white supremacist terrorist in New Zealand indicates a dangerous trend.

Trump was asked if the killing of at least 49 people in two mosques in Christchurch by a man claiming that white people are being overwhelmed in their historic homelands demonstrates a rising problem around the world.

“I don’t really. I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The terrorist — identified as an Australian white nationalist — livestreamed the assault on social media and published a manifesto filled with racist conspiracy theories.

He also referred to Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”

In the worst terror attack of New Zealand, 50 people have been killed and 48 more hurt, reported the New Zealand Herald. 

One of the terrorists, an Australian, livestreamed the shooting at Al Noor Mosque in chilling 17-min video. In the video, he can be seen shooting indiscriminately at people inside the mosque. The terrorist can been seen changing magazines of his gun and shooting the dead over and over again.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand  Jacinda Ardern has called it an unprecedented terrorist attack.

Earlier, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison said that hooting in Christchurch was carried out by “an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist” who was an Australian-born citizen.

Moreover, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan while reacting over the massacre in New Zealand said that the act reaffirms the fact that ‘terrorism has no religion.’

He further added that these acts are happening due to increased Islamophobia post 9/11.

 

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