Pirate's Cove

And taking away private property, along with turning law abiding citizens into criminals, punishing people who had nothing to do with the attack

New Zealand Banning Weapons Like Those Used In Mosque Attacks In Christchurch

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday that the government will ban “military-style semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles,” in an attempt to head-off “the kind of horror and attack that we saw on Friday.” She said the outlawed weapons will be listed on a website and are the type that were used in the attack on two mosques in Christchurch last week.

Ardern urged all New Zealanders who possess the guns that will be outlawed to begin immediately to fill out forms on the website and make arrangements to hand-in the weapons to police – and even if they are not able to access the online form, not to arrive unannounced at police stations with the guns.

She said the government will create a buy-back program to pay owners “fair and reasonable compensation,” which she estimated could cost the country between $100 million and $200 million. She said the guns will eventually be destroyed.

She said no one will be prosecuted over any weapons they turn in. “Amnesty applies,” she said. “We just want the guns back.”

So, the question is, how far does this go? The shooter used semi-automatic handguns: will they be banned? What will they consider to be an “assault rifle”? Further

Ardern said further restrictions will be established by law on large magazines and guns that are altered to increase weapons’ killing power.

Banning “large magazines” will essentially make lots of handguns worthless, and possibly illegal if they are designed to use a magazine with more than whatever arbitrary number the NZ government considers to be “safe.” Of course, there is no right to a firearm in New Zealand, so, they can deem lawfully purchased firearms illegal, and they are considering a database to keep track of all weapons. And

According to a fact sheet distributed to reporters in New Zealand and reprinted by the Guardian, the ban only covers military-style weapons and does not cover two general classes of firearms “commonly used for hunting, pest control, stock management on farms, and duck shooting:

“Semi-automatic .22 calibre rimfire firearms with a magazine which holds no more than ten rounds.

“Semi-automatic and pump action shotguns with a non-detachable tubular magazine which holds no more than five rounds.”

This seems to be saying that virtually every rifle above a .22 would be banned. That bottom rifle in the graphic above, a Pioneer Vespa, fires the .223/5.56 cartridge, and would seemingly be verboten. Notice in the fact sheet (page 2 of the link) that there is nothing in there about keeping handguns legal.

Here in the U.S., we are already seeing

This is what real action to stop gun violence looks like. We must follow New Zealand's lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States. https://t.co/lSAisDG9Ur

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 21, 2019

And, of course, you have AOC and so many other Democrats (many of whom are protected by people carrying assault rifles, including those which are fully automatic, have large capacity magazines, etc) saying similar stuff.