New Zealand Muslim Community Worries New Arms Law Amendment

JAKARTA - The New Zealand Muslim community voiced their concerns over easing firearms restrictions in the country that could lead to more deaths, as the government revised the Arms Act.

Justice Minister Nicole McKee, who previously criticized previous government reforms following the 2019 mosque attack, hinted at access to weapons used in the massacre perhaps to be relaxed, according to Radio New Zealand.

In 2019, a white prepreatured terrorist killed 51 Muslims and injured dozens more with semi-automatic rifles at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center, which sparked a nearly total ban on firearms.

However, the New Zealand government is now recasting the Arms Act.

The New Zealand Muslim community is concerned that McKee, due to his background as a spokesman for the Licensed Firearm Owners Council, will support the easing of the ban.

"It is important for everyone to have the opportunity to provide input on how firearms are controlled and, therefore, everyone has the opportunity to give an opinion in the rewriting of the law," McKee said of the matter.

However, he admitted that he had not received a report on the first stage of the submission.

According to him, the Muslim community's concerns are inappropriate.

The law has not been drafted, so the exact proposal from the government is still unclear at this time.

Omar, who lost his son Tariq in the shooting incident at the Al Noor Mosque, criticized McKee's stance, saying he had an agenda and described his views on firearms as "ridiculous".

"If he believed it was just a mosque attack, it didn't mean that one day there would be another crazy person out there who might go to the mall or maybe go to a marae (the Maori community meeting place) or school," Omar said.

Another prominent Islamic community leader also questioned McKee's presence in the matter, while one of them stated that Australian terrorists dared to attack New Zealand and not Australia.

Australia has stricter gun laws and warns that easing the law could trigger another attack.