The verdict may not yet be in on semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand.
The country’s top prosecutor walked back comments about banning the firearms Saturday, just a day after the massacres at two mosques in Christchurch that claimed the lives of 50 people and injured dozens more.
Attorney General David Parker had told a crowd at a vigil Saturday that a key part of the government’s response was to ban semi-automatic weapons, a step further than Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had called for in the wake of the attacks.
But Parker told Radio New Zealand on Saturday that the government has yet to make any decision on what changes to gun ownership policies, if any, would look like.
“We need to ban some semi-automatics, perhaps all of them. Those decisions have yet to be taken, but the prime minister has signaled that we are going to look at that issue.”
The New Zealand Police Association has said it is far too easy for individuals in New Zealand to have access to military-grade weapons.
“We know how easy it is to get firearms in New Zealand, and while today and the next few days is the time to look after the welfare of the victims and their families, clearly we need to have a look at firearms law in New Zealand,” said police association leader Chris Cahill.
“If someone was building up a cache of weapons and there was some alarms around that, it would be something that could be followed up, but as it stands now we have no idea who’s buying weapons and where they’re keeping them or how many they have in New Zealand.”
The minimum legal age to own a firearm in New Zealand is 16, and there is currently no national register of gun owners. All gun owners must be licensed to own and operate a firearm and must pass a background check of criminal and medical records. Registering a purchased firearm, however, is not required in New Zealand.
The guns used in the mosque massacres were obtained legally.
