New Zealands prime minister Jacinda Ardern says her countrys swift change to gun laws after the 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch was a pragmatic response, where we saw something that wasnt right and we acted on it.<\/p>\n
The prime minister was speaking as her visit to the United States coincided with the mass killing of 19 children at a school in Uvalde, Texas.<\/p>\n
Ardern appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which was filmed shortly after the Uvalde shooting. When I watch from afar and see events such as this today, its not as a politician. I see them just as a mother, an emotional Ardern said. Im so sorry for what has happened here.<\/p>\n
Colbert referred to the aftermath of the 15 March 2019 mosque shootings, where 51 people were killed by a white supremacist, saying: Immediately thereafter the New Zealand parliament took action to remove guns from the streets. <\/p>\n
He asked: Why New Zealand was able to do that, when we cant so much as pass universal background checks how did New Zealanders get that done?<\/p>\n
Ardern said New Zealanders are a very pragmatic people.<\/p>\n
We saw something that wasnt right and we acted on it, and I can only speak to that experience, she said.<\/p>\n
When we saw something like that happen, everyone said never again, and so it was incumbent on us as politicians to respond to that.<\/p>\n
Now, we have legitimate needs for guns in our country, for things like pest control and to protect our biodiversity but you dont need a military-style semi-automatic to do that.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the 2019 shooting, New Zealand banned almost all semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles. The law change was passed near-unanimously, with a single dissenting vote. Speaking at the time, Ardern said: I could not fathom how weapons that could cause such destruction and large-scale death could have been obtained legally in this country.<\/p>\n
Ardern told Colbert New Zealands current gun control situation was imperfect and there was still work to be done.<\/p>\n
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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern responds to Texas school shooting - The Guardian US<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Zealands prime minister Jacinda Ardern says her countrys swift change to gun laws after the 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch was a pragmatic response, where we saw something that wasnt right and we acted on it. Continue reading