New Zealand PM Says Cabinet Agrees Gun Reform ’In Principle’

By Staff, Agencies

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the cabinet is “completely unified” in reforming gun legislation in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack but emerged from a meeting with ministers without concrete proposals to change firearms laws.

Ardern, however, was expected to announce measures such as a ban on semi-automatic rifles, a plan that was flagged by her attorney general, David Parker, one day after the massacre in which 50 people were martyred.

Nonetheless, after emerging from a long cabinet meeting Ardern said her team would take the rest of the week to work out the details after agreeing to make changes “in principle”.

The agreement had been reached just 72 hours after the attack, she said, comparing her response time to that of the Australian government after the Port Arthur massacre.

“Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer,” Ardern said at news conference.

“These aren’t simple areas of law. So that’s simply what we’ll be taking the time to get right,” she said.

Hours before Ardern’s appearance, the country’s biggest online auction site, TradeMe, banned semi-automatics and “associated” accessories, saying “it is clear public sentiment has changed”.