On the (slow) march for reform

The recent and tragic shootings at two mosques in New Zealand have caused Kiwis to re-assess their surprisingly relaxed laws of gun ownership. Indeed, there are estimated to be almost 1.5 million legally-owned firearms in New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern (pictured), has vowed to reform New Zealand’s laws and had cited the current laws as an example of ‘what not to do’.

Tragedies such as these shootings invariably provoke responses; the horror of Dunblane in 1996 caused the then government to enact the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, which banned all cartridge ammunition handguns with the exception of .22 calibre single-shot weapons in England, Scotland and Wales, and following the 1997 general election, the Labour government introduced the Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act 1997, banning the remaining .22 cartridge handguns. After the Port Arthur shootings in Australia in 1996 (the same year as Dunblane), the Australian government enacted the National Firearms Programme Implementation Act 1996, restricting the private