(CNN) New Zealand officials collected about 56,000 firearms as part of a sixth-month gun buyback program that ended Friday, according to a news release from the country's Minister of Police. The New Zealand government instituted the program after 51 people were fatally shot at two Islamic houses of worship in March. The man accused in the shooting, Australian citizen Brenton Tarrant, 28, has pleaded not guilty to 92 charges, including 51 counts of murder. New Zealand's parliament voted almost unanimously in April in favor of changing the country's gun laws and banning all military-style semi-automatic weapons. "When we started the buyback and amnesty we had one objective, to make our country a safer place," said Stuart Nash, minister of police for New Zealand.

Source: CNN December 22, 2019 03:22 UTC