New Zealand gun buyback: 10,000 firearms returned after Christchurch attack

[Judi Lynn]

Police praise response after thousands of now-banned guns taken out of circulation in less than a month

Eleanor Ainge Roy in Dunedin
@EleanorAingeRoy
Sun 11 Aug 2019 21.12 EDT

More than 10,000 firearms have been bought by New Zealand’s government in less than a month as part of its gun buyback scheme following the Christchurch mosque shootings in March.

Following the killing of 51 people in two inner-city Christchurch mosques by an Australian white supremacist, prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s government rushed through legislation to ban military-style semi-automatic weapons and set aside NZ$150m to buy firearms that were now illegal.

A bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and components that modify existing weapons, was passed by a vote of 119 to 1 in April.

“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. “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.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/12/new-zealand-gun-buyback-10000-firearms-returned-after-christchurch-attack

[NickB79]

1. That's not a lot, actually

Given the large number of firearms owned in NZ (1.2-1.5 million per the article).

The government will have to start paying a more in compensation or risk missing large numbers of firearms from gun owners willing to just hide them.

[AncientGeezer]

2. Exactly