Wed 10 Apr 2019:
All but one member of New Zealand’s parliament voted on Wednesday to change gun laws, less than a month after deadly terror attacks on two Christchurch mosques that killed 50 people.
The bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons and banning components that modify existing weapons was passed by a vote of 119 to 1 in the House of Representatives on Wednesday after an accelerated process of debate and public submission.
The bill needs only the approval of New Zealand’s governor general, a formality, before becoming law on Friday.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke emotionally during the bill’s final reading of the traumatic injuries suffered by victims of the March 15 shootings, whom she visited in Christchurch Hospital after the attacks.
Terrorist Brenton Tarrant, 28, was charged with 50 murder charges after the attack on two mosques on March 15.
