Wellington, Aug 13 (TIWN) 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.

Following the killing of 51 people in two inner-city Christchurch mosques by an Australian white supremacist, prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s government rushed through legislation to ban military-style semi-automatic weapons and set aside NZ$150m to buy firearms that were now illegal.  A bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and components that modify existing weapons, was passed by a vote of 119 to 1 in April.