15 Mar 2021

Gun reform laws will take time to change crime rates, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

From Morning Report, 7:14 am on 15 March 2021

The Prime Minister says gun reform laws were never going to change crime rates overnight, but that does not mean they were unnecessary.

Following the mosque shootings in Christchurch, the government clamped down on firearms and high-powered semi-automatic weapons - but the latest figures from police show gun crime and violence is still rising in New Zealand.

Jacinda Ardern says the gun laws would take time to take effect, and the government was still working in earnest to reduce violent crime.

But she points to growing gang numbers, as a result of deportations from Australia, as an impediment.

Jacinda Ardern spoke to Morning Report's Corin Dann.