All military-style semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles will be banned in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday afternoon local time.
Details: New Zealand is also banning high-capacity magazines and anything that can modify weapons into having a semi-automatic capacity, Ardern said at a press conference outlining the tightening of gunlaws in response to Friday's Christchurch terrorist attack. Ardern announced interim regulatory changes effective immediately.
The big picture: The interim order would ensure "virtually all" of the weapons she mentioned being banned would effectively mean no one could buy these weapons without a permit from the police. "I can assure people, that there is no point in applying for such a permit," she said.
The latest: Police have now completed the identification procedures for all 50 attack victims, enabling the remains of all of them to be released to families.
- Funerals were continuing to be held for the victims.
- Christchurch Hospital was treating 29 patients injured in the mosque attacks — 8 were in a critical condition.
- A girl, 4, was in a critical condition in an Auckland children's hospital. Her father was in a stable condition in another hospital in the North Island city.
- Thousands of people attended a vigil in Dunedin, the adopted home town of mosque attacks suspect Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28.
Wow Dunedin that was amazing pic.twitter.com/eHnvpd1n01
— Kirstie Gillon-Wood (@KirstieGW) March 21, 2019
What's next: Ardern expects the new gun laws to be fully in place by April 11. The New Zealand government would put in place a gun buyback scheme.
