New Zealand Residents Return 10,000 Firearms Following Christchurch Attack
Resident surrender guns as part of new government 'buy back' program
© press
Residents of New Zealand have given up over 10,000 firearms to the government as part of the buyback program implemented following the Christchurch mosque massacre, according to reports.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government put up $100 million to purchase weapons when they pushed through legislation in April to ban military-style semi-automatic weapons.
The bill passed after the shootings at two Christchurch mosques that killed 52 people.
“I could not fathom how weapons that could cause such destruction and large-scale death could be obtained legally in this country,” Ardern said at the time.
© press
“I struggle to recall any single gunshot wounds. In every case, they [victims] spoke of multiple injuries, multiple debilitating injuries that deemed it impossible for them to recover in days, let alone weeks."
"They will carry disabilities for a lifetime, and that’s before you consider the psychological impact. We are here for them.”
The buyback program launched last month, with a total of 10,242 firearms which have been handed in to police.
Also in March, just hours after New Zealand announced banning semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and other Democrats tweeted the U.S. needed to follow their lead.
Chelsea Clinton Blamed for New Zealand Mosque Attacks by Muslim Students | Neon Nettle https://t.co/yzDc0N9nMD
— Mdl-Murray (@MdlMurray) March 17, 2019
© press
Feinstein tweeted:
“In country after country, massacres are followed by sweeping changes to gun laws, as logic would dictate."
The United States needs to follow these examples and take action to protect Americans from this deadly public health scourge.”
In her tweet, she attached a statement: Here at home in America, since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, we’ve suffered through at least 227 school shootings that killed 143 and left 290 wounded.
And those are just shootings at schools. We’ve seen massacres at offices, churches, theaters, concerts, malls — all the places that Americans should feel safe, not threatened.
Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez pounced on the events to use the mass shooting as an opportunity to push an anti-gun agenda in America.
Ocasio-Cortez used the mass shooting in Christchurch, NZ, that has so far left 49 people dead and at least 20 wounded, including children, to attack the National Rifle Association (NRA) and current firearms policies in the United States.
