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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's response differs greatly from that of American lawmakers, who have failed to pass substantive gun control laws for decades.
New Zealand's Prime Minister promises "changes" to the island nation's gun laws following the Christchurch mosque shootings.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday that her administration would begin talking about increasing firearm regulations starting Monday, The New York Timesreports.
"There will be changes to our gun laws," said the Labour Party politician.
The announcement signals swift, legislative action in response to the pair of shootings at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre, which left at least 50 people dead and at least 50 others wounded, CNN reports. Stricter laws won't root out the white supremacy, Islamophobia, and racism underpinning the attack, but they would conceivably prevent people with similarly bigoted views from obtaining the semi-automatic weapons needed to carry out such violence.
Mass shootings have pushed politicians in a number of countries to pass stricter gun laws. Australia passed the National Firearms Agreement following the Port Arthur massacre of 1996, and there have been no mass shootings since.
Despite similar calls for gun control following mass shootings in the United States -- like the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, which left 49 people dead; the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, which left 58 people dead; the 2015 Charleston church shooting, which left 9 people dead; or the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, which left 27 people dead -- American lawmakers have failed to restrict gun ownership in the U.S.
In fact, mass shootings have often led to even looser gun laws in red states, the Harvard Business School found, while they've had little to no effect on policy in blue states.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives did vote earlier this year to require background checks on anyone buying a gun in the U.S. -- likely in response to the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, where a shooter killed 17 people -- but the bill is unlikely to clear the Republican-controlled Senate, The New York Timessays.
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