Gun control laws introduced by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings are at risk of being repealed as a right-wing New Zealand coalition spearheaded by a former gun lobbyist pushes for a comprehensive review of the laws, advocacy groups have warned.
In June, the Coalition government announced it would begin a review of the new firearms registry and rewrite laws governing gun use and ownership, fulfilling a promise made in the coalition agreement with the centre-right National Party and the liberal ACT Party.
The creation of a firearms register and ban on military-style semi-automatic rifles are among the measures introduced by Ardern’s government after the March 15, 2019, terror attacks in Australia by a white supremacist killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
Despite strong public support at the time, the amendment angered some gun owners, who argued that the law demonized gun owners without improving public safety.
The most vocal critic was Nicole McKee, a spokeswoman for the lobbying group Licensed Firearms Users Council, who expressed concern over the issue. It motivated me to run for Congress in 2020. An ACT MP and currently a minister in the Coalition government, Mr McKee is tasked with overseeing sweeping reforms to the country’s gun laws.
Gun control advocates worry that this could signal a weakening of gun laws.
“We’re really concerned that this legislation could undo all the reforms that were made after the Christchurch terror attacks,” said Philippa Yasbeck, co-founder of Gun Control NZ, an advocacy group set up after the mosque shootings.
“Before Nicole McKee became a pastor, she Delete the registry and Loosening access to semi-automatic rifles.”
In November, shortly after the coalition agreement was reached, ACT leader David Seymour told New Zealand media that military-style semi-automatic rifles should be available to anyone with an approved purpose who passed certain tests.
But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said “no new firearms will be added to New Zealand” as a result of the reforms. “The Weapons Act is an outdated law, it’s old law, so we’re going to rewrite it,” Luxon said. He told Radio New Zealand March.
When asked, McKee declined to say whether the new law would be more permissive than current law when it comes to obtaining firearms or whether it would increase the number of firearms in circulation.
“I make no assumptions about the outcome and look forward to upcoming consultations to hear from New Zealanders and experts,” Mr McKee said in a written statement to the Guardian.
“Some of the changes the Ardern government has rushed through have been made with little consultation, in one case taking three days, but we intend to listen to everyone’s views.”
“These reforms are about improving public safety through simple, effective regulation – finding the right balance for our country and once again leading the world with lasting laws.”
Alexander Gillespie, a professor of international law at Waikato University, said New Zealand’s firearms laws before 2019 reflected “poor practice” by international standards and “contributed to the atrocities that took place”.
“The system could easily be abused,” Gillespie said, referring to “easy access to semi-automatic rifles”, while the lack of a firearms registry put New Zealand out of step with peer countries such as Australia and the UK.
After Ardern-era reforms, New Zealand’s laws are “much closer to good practice”, Gillespie said, but it was too early to know what impact they had.
“This is just over a five-year period. It’s very hard to make a statistical connection between what’s happened under Ardern’s government and a reduction in extremism or violence.”
