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"The main perpetrator used five guns," she said at a press conference in Wellington. "There were two semi-automatic weapons and two shotguns, the offender was in possession of a firearms license, and I was informed that it had been acquired in the past." November 2017. A levered gun was also found. "
She added that the suspect, identified as Brenton Tarrant, had obtained a firearms license in November 2017 and had started buying firearms legally in December 2017.
"While we are working on the series of events that have led to both the possession of this license and the possession of these weapons, I can tell you one thing now." Our gun laws will change . " Said Ardern.
Following this attack, the country's firearms laws – first adopted in 1983 – have been closely scrutinized. The ensuing debate culminated in a 1992 amendment on the regulation of semi-automatic firearms in the military style.
Although the authorities do not know exactly how many legally or illegally owned firearms are currently in circulation in New Zealand, this number is estimated at about 1.2 million, according to New Zealand police. That is equivalent to about one weapon for every three people – a rate considered high compared to Australia, which has 3.15 million firearms, about one in eight.
According to Alpers, New Zealand's firearms legislation has remained virtually unchanged since 1992. Five years later, Thomas Thorp, a retired Supreme Court justice, recommended major changes (1997), including that all firearms are registered individually; that restricted weapons such as private machine guns be permanently deactivated; and for a repurchase of semi-automatic military-style weapons.
Alpers, based at the University of Sydney but of New Zealand origin, told CNN: "None of these measures has been taken into account in the legislation.The government has since taken into account has a series of similar recommendations, but special interest groups are preventing any significant change. "
According to GunPolicy.org, in 79 countries surveyed by the United Nations, firearms registration is the accepted norm and the cornerstone of gun control. Among developed countries, New Zealand's decision not to register 96 percent of civilian firearms is a notable exception, alone with the United States and Canada, said Alpers.
Weapons legislation in Australia
The laws have had a dramatic effect on the frequency of mbad shootings and homicides. In the years following the Port Arthur mbadacre, the risk of shooting dead in Australia decreased by more than 50% – and remained there.
A study conducted in 2012 by Andrew Leigh of the Australian National University and Christine Neill of Wilfrid Laurier University also revealed that the two firearm purchases funded by the federal government and the voluntary firearms surrender had resulted in a drop in the firearms suicide rate of nearly 80% over the next decade.
By using these measures, Australia has collected and destroyed more than one million firearms, perhaps a third of the national stock, according to Alpers. The national government has also banned the import of new automatic and semi-automatic weapons. And the buyout was paid by a unique one-time tax on all Australians.
The gun lobby is "small but very powerful" in New Zealand, according to Alpers. He told CNN: "They are very noisy and have managed to thwart any attempts to strengthen gun laws since 1992. It's a powerful little lobby group, while the gun lobby at The fire in Australia was broken by the Port Arthur mbadacre.
"In New Zealand, the gun lobby has steadily grown stronger and has dominated policy advice to the police and the government."
That said, Alpers thinks things will have to change. He told CNN: "It's always a terrible surprise when this kind of thing happens.You can never predict where it will come in. The most common comment you receive from people who happen is that these have never thought that this could happen here and that is what the inhabitants of Christchurch must feel. "
Despite relatively lax controls, "firearms are rarely used as in the US, so it will be a huge shock for New Zealanders," said Alpers. He added: "This deeply shocked the country and I can not imagine any country less likely to let this happen."
New Zealand police support carrying firearms
New Zealand police officers are not systematically armed, but recent figures suggest that more officers are in favor of carrying firearms.
This figure has increased significantly compared to a decade ago, when 48% of officers were in favor of general armaments in 2008.
New Zealand also has a low murder rate, with a total of 35 homicides in 2017, less than the number of people killed in the two-day attack on the mosque on Friday.
"Many European countries totally prohibit semi-automatic weapons, and the United Kingdom, for example, banned handguns, except in exceptional and rare circumstances.The most worrying problem is that of the omnipresence of possession of firearms in New Zealand 1.5 million firearms there.
"People can say that one in three New Zealanders will own a firearm, but that would be a mistake." Owners often have multiple weapons, so it's likely that however, the presence of so many firearms in a small country raises difficulties in overloading a police force with any regulation. "
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