New Zealand residents have voluntarily surrendered more than 10,000 firearms to the government as part of the country’s new gun buyback program.
Since the buyback began on July 13, 10,242 firearms have been handed in to police. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her support for a national gun buyback in March after attacks on two mosques in Christchurch left 51 dead and 49 injured.
“I [can]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.
The shootings, which together made up the deadliest mass shooting event in the country’s history, pushed Ardern and New Zealand’s parliament to quick action.
Six days after the massacre, Ardern announced a national ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines to prevent citizens from stockpiling guns ahead of anticipated legislation. New Zealand’s parliament passed a bill only weeks later that outlawed military-style semi-automatic firearms, assault rifles, components that could modify weapons into a banned version, and all the weapons used by the Christchurch shooter.
In addition to the more than 10,000 already seized, another 1,269 guns have been surrendered through the amnesty program, which allows citizens to anonymously turn in guns without questions concerning their legality. It’s estimated that New Zealand citizens own between 1.2 million and 1.5 million firearms.
According to police, the island nation has held more than 90 collection events which 7,180 gun owners have attended. New Zealanders have until Dec. 20 to turn in now-banned weapons.
Legal opposition from pro-gun groups, who say compensation rates are unfair and warn of black market activity, and the lack of a national gun registry have proven to be challenges to successful implementation. Though early reports characterized the new program as difficult to enforce, New Zealand’s police are so far happy with the result.
“We have been really happy with New Zealand’s engagement and response to this process and we look forward to more people taking part in the buy-back scheme over the coming months,” police said in a statement.
After two shootings last week in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio left 31 dead, calls for gun control legislation in the United States have been on the rise. Several Democratic presidential candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden, have endorsed similar national assault weapons buyback programs after the shootings.
