NZ Parliament votes to restrict semiautomatic guns

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Less than a month after a massacre of Muslims during Friday prayers, New Zealand’s Parliament on Wednesday overwhelming passed a bill restricting the use of semiautomatic weapons.

The government led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern brought in the bill just after the March 15 attack at two Christchurch mosques by an accused white supremacist, killing 51 people and injuring dozens more.

The law change had near unanimous support, passing by 119-1, Radio New Zealand reported, adding that the bill now only needs to be signed off by the governor general -- a formality -- before its becomes law.

The bill bans military-style semiautomatic weapons and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms.

Ardern hailed how Parliament “came together to act swiftly” to pass the bill.

In Parliament, Ardern said how New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush told her after the shootings that “the gunman had obtained his firepower legally,” reported The New Zealand Herald.