Critics of the Government's gun law changes say a loophole means that a lower-powered version of the assault rifle used by the Christchurch mosque shooter remains legal. The Government banned all centrefire "military style" semi-automatics, but less powerful rimfire .22 semi-automatics remain legal for people holding a standard firearms licence. The AR15 .22 WMR - a lower powered version of the weapon used in the Christchurch attacks, remains legal in New Zealand. A poll this week found that 61 per cent of people thought the gun law changes were about right, but 19 per cent thought they didn't go far enough. Nash said the next round of changes to firearms law would address licensing, vetting and storage rules "amongst other issues."

Source: Stuff April 19, 2019 00:04 UTC