NZ opens gun buyback after mosque killings

Wellington, June 20 

New Zealand opened a gun buyback scheme on Thursday aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons similar to those used in the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers.

PM Jacinda Ardern vowed in the hours after the March 15 killings that New Zealand’s gun laws would be tightened and her government has expedited the change in just three months.

“The buyback and amnesty has one objective—to remove the most dangerous weapons from circulation following the loss of life at Al Noor and Linwood mosques,” Police Minister Stuart Nash said.

The Australian man accused of the killings, Brenton Tarrant, is alleged to have used an arsenal of five weapons, including two military style semi-automatic rifles, in the attacks. — PTI