New Zealand’s prime minister said Monday that her cabinet has made decisions about the reform of gun laws, following Friday’s massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, VOA news reports.
“I intend to give further details of these decisions to the media and the public before cabinet meets again next Monday,” Jacinda Ardern said. “This ultimately means that within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism, we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer.”
“We have made a decision as as cabinet,” the prime minister said. “We are unified.”
Authorities have accused a 28-year-old Australian, Brenton Harris Tarrant, of carrying out the horrific attack. He is the only person in custody linked to the killings and has been charged with murder.
Tarrant has not yet entered a plea. His next court appearance is set for April 5. Media reports say Tarrant will not use a lawyer, but will represent himself in the court proceedings.
Mass shootings and violent crime are rare in New Zealand, a country of nearly 5 million people. Until Friday, the country’s worst mass shooting was in 1990, when a gunman killed 13 people in the small town of Aramoana.