After Attacks, New Zealand Quickly Bans Assault Weapons

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on semi-automatic and automatic weapons like the ones used in the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers. The man charged in the attack had purchased his weapons legally using a standard firearms license and enhanced their capacity by using 30-round magazines “done easily through a simple online purchase,” she said. “Every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned,” she said. Ardern’s announcement comes less than a week after the killings, as more of the dead were being buried.