She recognised the attacks as acts of terrorism – a first given the victims were Muslims and the attacker was a White man – and vowed to mobilise the legislature regarding gun laws in the country. A week later, Ardern has delivered on her promise as her government has imposed an immediate ban on all assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of gun possession, with approximately 1.6 million owners of firearms in a total population of less than five million. The ban has drawn the attention of many who have been lobbying for stricter gun laws in the US, which has experienced 152 mass shootings from 1967 to 2018. In response to the New Zealand’s ban, Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted “this is what real action to stop gun violence looks like.

Source: The Express Tribune March 22, 2019 05:03 UTC