New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday that the country will ban military-style semiautomatic weapons in an announcement that comes just six days after shootings at two mosques in Christchurch killed 50 people. “Every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned,” Ardern said at a news conference. Ardern said Thursday that the shooter used two legally purchased semiautomatic rifles that were modified with high-capacity magazines, “turning them into military-style semiautomatic weapons.” A suspect in the massacre, a white supremacist extremist, has been arrested. A day after the shootings, Ardern pledged to change New Zealand’s gun laws and said she would announce plans within 10 days. The ban is also supported by the opposition party in New Zealand, according to its leader.

Source: Huffington Post March 21, 2019 02:26 UTC