Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series on gun policy and the debate over gun control around the world.
New Zealand is set to ban certain types of semi-automatic weapons following last month’s mass shooting that killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch. This week, new gun control legislation passed the first of three votes in Parliament. Many commentators have compared the situation to what happened in Australia in 1996, when strict new gun laws were enacted in the wake of a deadly mass shooting that shocked the country. But studies looking at the effectiveness of those measures have identified a range of issues related to their enforcement and cost-effectiveness, says Samara McPhedran, deputy director of the Violence Research and Prevention Program at Griffith University in Australia. In an interview with WPR, she explains why New Zealand may not be well-served by the current process of fast-tracking new gun laws.
World Politics Review: How was Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern able to move so quickly in preparing a national ban on all military-style semi-automatic weapons? Is the proposal likely to face any pushback or efforts to water it down as it moves through Parliament?