Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Live: Christchurch mosque shootings: Changes to gun laws coming

Lucy Bennett
By Lucy Bennett
Political Reporter·NZ Herald·
18 Mar, 2019 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's latest update on the Christchurch shooting.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has urged gun owners to follow the lead of others and hand them over to police.

She has also called for social media companies to take responsibility for the sharing of hate speech and the incitement to violence on their platforms.

She made the pleas yesterday following her weekly Cabinet meeting, saying there was unanimous agreement to make changes to gun laws following the Christchurch mosque shootings in which 50 people were killed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

More than 250 police and specialist staff are now focused on the investigation, which also involves Australian detectives and member of the FBI.

Ardern will announce within the week what the changes to gun laws will be but a ban on military semi-automatic weapons is almost certain to be among them.

"You can surrender your gun to the police at any time," Ardern said in a message to gun owners at her weekly post-Cabinet press conference.

"I've seen reports that people are in fact already doing this. I applaud that effort and if you're thinking about surrendering your weapon, I would encourage you to do so."

Ardern said New Zealanders questioned the availability of military-style semi-automatic weapons.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Wairarapa farmer and Green Party candidate John Hart said he dropped off his semi-automatic rifle at a police station "no questions asked" yesterday.

Gun store ad hoarding in Christchurch. Photo / Michael Craig
Gun store ad hoarding in Christchurch. Photo / Michael Craig

"Until today I was one of the New Zealanders who owned a semi-automatic rifle. On the farm they are a useful tool in some circumstances, but my convenience doesn't outweigh the risk of misuse," he said on Twitter.

Another Twitter user, Fay Hag, said: "Daughter of crack-shot food-hunting parents, I have used guns from the age of nine. Today I requested that those guns be handed in for destruction."

Police asked people who wanted to surrender their firearms to police to call ahead, given the current security situation.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Website Kiwi Farms refuses to surrender data linked to accused

19 Mar 12:02 AM

Hunting & Fishing New Zealand confirmed yesterday it was pulling all "military-style" semi-automatic firearms from sale nationwide in the aftermath of the Christchurch attacks.

Chief executive Darren Jacobs said the company broadly supported tighter gun controls in New Zealand.

Gun City owner David Tipple gestures during a press conference in Christchurch. Photo / AP
Gun City owner David Tipple gestures during a press conference in Christchurch. Photo / AP

Meanwhile, Gun City owner David Tipple yesterday confirmed his business sold four weapons and ammunition to Tarrant.

He and his staff were "dismayed and disgusted" by Friday's shootings but he said he did not feel responsible.

Gun City has stores across the country and also sells online.

Tipple said Tarrant bought his guns online but they did not include the AR-15 he allegedly used to gun down worshippers at the two mosques.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Trade Me announced it had pulled all listings for semi-automatic weapons ahead of any potential ban.

Ardern also yesterday called on social media platforms to take some responsibility for the sharing of hate speech and the incitement to violence, following revelations that shooting suspect Brenton Tarrant had livestreamed the alleged rampage through the mosques.

A review of agencies including the Security intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau will look at Tarrant's use of social media.

Ardern said Facebook had so far removed around 1.5 million versions of the livestream from the internet.

Student vigil at Hagley Park Christchurch. Photo / Michael Craig
Student vigil at Hagley Park Christchurch. Photo / Michael Craig

Tarrant's Facebook and Instagram account were also taken down.

Ardern said it was apparent Facebook was able to take direct action on hate speech.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I would call on our social media platforms of all variety to demonstrate the kind of responsibility [on posts] that both lead to these events and … those who perpetuate the messages in the aftermath."

Musician Neil Finn announced on Twitter yesterday he was quitting social media in the wake of the attacks.

"These platforms have enabled the spread of hateful ideology and I will not participate any more."

An 18-year-old man appeared in court in Christchurch yesterday accused of sharing the livestream and posting objectionable photographs in relation to the attacks.
He was remanded in custody to reappear next month.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who appeared alongside Ardern at yesterday's press conference, suggested New Zealanders ' lives could be put at risk by people screening video of the massacre, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who has played extracts at an election rally.

Peters said it misrepresented New Zealand and was unfair.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
A mourner placing flowers on a memorial to the victims of the terror attack across the road from the Linwood Mosque in Christchurch. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A mourner placing flowers on a memorial to the victims of the terror attack across the road from the Linwood Mosque in Christchurch. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He said he had made that clear to Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu who have been in New Zealand to support three Turkish citizens injured in Friday's terrorist shooting.

Turkish elections are due to be held on March 31 and Erdoğan has used some footage of the attack in a televised election campaign rally to highlight Islamophobia.

Peters emphasised that the changes to gun laws being announced this week were a Cabinet decision, meaning they had the support of New Zealand First.

Details of the changes and their consequences are still being ironed out but Ardern said they would be revealed before Cabinet met again next Monday.

"This ultimately means that within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our communities safer," Ardern said.

"As a Cabinet we were absolutely unified and very clear that the terror attack in Christchurch on Friday was the worst act of terrorism on our shores. It was, in fact, one of the worst globally in recent times," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Asked whether the changes had the support of New Zealand First, which previously opposed stricter gun control, Ardern said Cabinet had been "of one mind".

Peters said "it was a Cabinet decision and that's the total answer".

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua woman honours late uncle, cousin with Run the Forest tribute

Rotorua Daily Post

'Changed a generation': Why three Rotorua principals have been celebrated

Rotorua Daily Post

'Visible police presence': Multiple arrests made at Rotorua gang tangi


Sponsored

Kiss cams and passion cohorts: how brands get famous in culture

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua woman honours late uncle, cousin with Run the Forest tribute
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua woman honours late uncle, cousin with Run the Forest tribute

The event on August 9 has had a record early sell-out with 4500 participants.

02 Aug 02:17 AM
'Changed a generation': Why three Rotorua principals have been celebrated
Rotorua Daily Post

'Changed a generation': Why three Rotorua principals have been celebrated

01 Aug 06:04 PM
'Visible police presence': Multiple arrests made at Rotorua gang tangi
Rotorua Daily Post

'Visible police presence': Multiple arrests made at Rotorua gang tangi

01 Aug 09:56 AM


Kiss cams and passion cohorts: how brands get famous in culture
Sponsored

Kiss cams and passion cohorts: how brands get famous in culture

01 Aug 12:26 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP