New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday she doesn’t understand why the United States has not drafted stricter gun laws in the wake of numerous mass shootings.
“Australia experienced a massacre and changed their laws, New Zealand had its experience and changed its laws,” Ms. Ardern said to CNN. “To be honest, I do not understand the United States.”
The prime minister spearheaded legislation to tighten New Zealand’s gun laws after a gunman killed 51 people and wounded dozens more at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15.
The new laws, enacted days after the massacre, included a ban on all “military-style semi-automatic rifles” and instituted a mandatory buyback program.
Ms. Ardern said New Zealand will continue to be a country with a “practical purpose” for guns, but “that does not mean you need access to military-style semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. You do not. New Zealand is by and large absolutely agreed with that position.”
The prime minister is in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron to host a “Christchurch Call” summit with tech executives, asking for their help in combating the use of their social media platforms for terrorist attacks.
“Australia experienced a massacre and changed their laws. New Zealand had its experience, and changed its laws,” Prime Minister @jacindaardern tells me.
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) May 14, 2019
“To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States.” pic.twitter.com/3zYXpsijeB
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• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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