NZ buys back 10,000 firearms after Christchurch attack

The government has set aside $200 million to compensate gun owners for up to 95 per cent of the weapon's original cost. Gun owners have until December 2020 to hand back their weapons, at which point the buy-back scheme and amnesty period will end.

Wellington: More than 10,000 firearms have been bought by New Zealand's government as part of its gun buyback scheme following the Christchurch mosque shootings in March that killed 51 people.

After the shootings, New Zealand's Parliament pushed through a ban on semi-automatic weapons and launched a buy-back scheme to encourage people to voluntarily give up their weapons.

The gun reform law, passed in April, also banned parts that are able to convert weapons into semi-automatics, magazines over a certain capacity and some shotguns.

A New Zealand Police spokesperson told media that as of Sunday, more than 7,000 gun owners had attended over 90 collection events around the country, relinquishing a total of 10,242 firearms for compensation and another 1,269 under an amnesty.

The first collection event was held in Christchurch, where Muslim worshippers were gunned down at two mosques by Australian national Brenton Tarrant.

The government has set aside $200 million to compensate gun owners for up to 95 per cent of the weapon's original cost.

Gun owners have until December 2020 to hand back their weapons, at which point the buy-back scheme and amnesty period will end.

In a statement, the New Zealand police praised gun owners' engagement with the process and said they were "really happy" with the public response.