CHRISTCHURCH: After learning that the man accused of killing 49 people in two mosques purchased the armoury of firearms used in the massacre legally, New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern pledged to toughen the country’s gun laws.
The five weapons used by the 28-year-old Australian in Friday’s attacks in the southern city of Christchurch was obtained under a “Category A” gun licence in November 2017.
New Zealand’s prime minister speaking to reporters in Wellington before heading to Christchurch said that the firearms included two semi-automatic rifles, two shotguns and a lever-action weapon.
She stated, “This individual had acquired a gun licence and acquired weapons of that range, then obviously I think people will be seeking change, and I’m committing to that, I can tell you one thing right now, our gun laws will change.”
The Australian-born white man identified as an “an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist. He has also published a manifesto praising US President Donald Trump and Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011.