New Zealand Prime Minister Reveals Plans to Tighten Gun Laws

The New Zealand prime minister says the nation’s regulations on gun ownership will change after the tragic Mosque massacre in Christchurch which left 49 dead Thursday night.

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“I can tell you one thing right now: our gun laws will change,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a press conference in Wellington Friday.

“There have been attempts to change our laws in 2005, 2012 and after an inquiry in 2017. Now is the time for change,” Arden said.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, faces life in prison after being charged with the murder of an unidentified man killed during the violent attack on two mosques which he live-streamed in a 17-minute video online Thursday night and early Friday morning.

Ardern told reporters, “There were two semi-automatic weapons and two shotguns. The offender was in possession of a gun license. I'm advised this was acquired in November of 2017. A lever-action firearm was also found.”

Eighteen-year-old Daniel John Burrough also appeared in court, charged with inciting racial hatred.

“Rhetoric of racism, division and extremism has no place not only in New Zealand but I would say in a society as a whole.

“I want to finish by saying that while the nation grapples with a form of grief and anger that we have not experienced before, we are seeking answers. As is the entire nation, we are all unified in grieving together,” the prime minister concluded.

Together with the video footage of the shooting, Tarrant also uploaded a disturbing, 74-page manifesto in which he appeared to praise U.S. President Donald Trump as  "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."

The Australian 28-year old also complimented Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011, reporting he had received a “blessing” to carry out his mass shooting against the Muslim community in New Zealand.

Tarrant is in police custody and has been charged with multiple accounts of first-degree murder. Two other people have been also arrested in connection with the shootings.