New Zealand Mosque Shootings Put Focus on Country’s Firearms

Friday’s shootings that left at least 49 people dead at two mosques in New Zealand may put a new focus on the country’s approach to firearms safety.

A 28-year-old man has been charged over the shootings in the city of Christchurch, according to reports, and will appear in court on Saturday morning local time. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the shootings a terrorist act, tweeting that such acts have no place in the country.

Before Friday’s shootings in the city of Christchurch, the deadliest attack in the South Pacific country was in 1990, when a person went on a shooting spree in the seaside town of Aramoana that left 13 people dead. That shooting led to a 1993 amendment to the country’s gun laws to regulate the use of military-style semi-automatic firearms.

Owners of firearms in New Zealand are required to have a license but they are not required to register their firearms, unlike in Australia. Additionally, New Zealand does not ban the ownership of semi-automatic military-style assault weapons, also in contrast to Australia.

One global survey conducted in 2018 placed New Zealand as the world’s safest country. Still, public debate began growing late last year about re-examining the country’s firearms laws.

There are about 1.5 million privately owned firearms in New Zealand, according to the most recent from 2017 data by GunPolicy.org, a global database compiled by the University of Sydney. That number has grown consistently throughout the years, with New Zealand reporting only 1.3 million such firms in 2016, 1.2 million in 2009 and less than a million in 2005.

According to the same source, the estimated the estimated rate of private gun ownership (both licit and illicit) per 100 people in the country is 33.26, a figure that is higher than Australia, but far lower than the U.S., which has slightly more than one gun per person. That number has grown consistently in the 21st century.

The country also reports having about 40,605 handguns in civilian possession in 2017, up from 36,000 handguns in civilian possession reported in 2010. In a comparison to other 177 countries in 2007 that looked at the rate of private gun ownership, New Zealand ranked 22nd.

In 2015, GunPolicy.org listed 55 deaths caused by firearms in New Zealand and 59 homicides.

“The regulation of guns in New Zealand is categorised as restrictive,” say the authors of the database. “In New Zealand, only licensed gun owners may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition.”