The Christchurch mosque shootings were two consecutive terrorist attacks at mosques in New Zealand, which took place during Friday Prayer on March 15, 2019. The attacks began at the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton at 1:40 pm and continued at the Linwood Islamic Centre at about 1:55 pm.

These attacks led New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to state ”Our gun laws will change.” According to Ardern, “This was the act of a monster and it won’t happen again.”

Currently the New Zealand firearm license limits the grounds upon which an individual can carry a gun. The minimum legal age to own a gun is 16-18 for a “military style semi-automatic firearm.”

According to an article published on the website DW.com on Monday, April 5,  (https://www.dw.com/cda/en/new-zealand-outlines-strict-new-gun-controls), by September the owners of most semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand will be required to surrender their weapons.

While New Zealand has had relatively few gun-related homicides (0.17 per 100,000 people in 2015), it has acted quickly to restrict guns in light of these tragic incidents.

In contrast, according to a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has had 11 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in 2015, . (https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/17/asia/gun-laws-new-zealand-intl/index.html).  In my opinion, it is time for the U.S. to consider action such as what was done in New Zealand.