The legislation containing New Zealand’s ban on semiautomatic rifles has now been introduced and it also bans various pump shotgun models.
In other words, the semiautomatic rifle ban also prohibits certain firearms that are not semiautomatic.
On March 20, 2019, Breitbart News reported Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that the New Zealand government would ban military-style semiautomatic rifles (MSSAs), “high capacity” magazines, and numerous gun parts. She made clear that legislation containing precise details of the ban was being put together and now that legislation has been introduced.
Titled the Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Bill, the legislation goes beyond a ban on MSSAs, instead banning semiautomatic rifles in general “with some exceptions.” The legislation also bans magazines that can hold “more than 10 cartridges and can be used with a semi-automatic or fully automatic firearm.” The bill also bans gun parts “that can be applied to enable, or take significant steps towards enabling, a firearm to be fired with, or near, a semi-automatic action.”
And there is more—the legislation bans pump action shotguns “capable of being used with a detachable magazine.” Pump shotguns with a fixed, tubular magazine capable of holding more than five rounds are banned as well.
The bill gives law-abiding owners of such firearms an amnesty period to surrender the guns to police. The amnesty ends September 30, 2019.
NPR reports that New Zealand police commissioner Stuart Nash says the gun ban will take effect April 12, if it passes. Thereafter begins the amnesty period for surrendering firearms to the proper authorities.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.