The news out of my old home town of Christchurch today is very sad. Kia Kaha, Christchurch. I feel like I say that a lot. Christchurch has had a really rough decade. When will it end?
I wish the media would not report the names of terrorists. It encourages idolatry and copy cats. They should instead focus on the victims. Name the victims and tell us who are they are and what their lives were like. The terrorists should be forever nameless terrorists.
It’s surprisingly easy to buy guns in New Zealand. I remember reading an article about it many years ago which I’ve manage to dig out of the internet archives – Want a gun, no questions asked?. Guns can be purchased on TradeMe (the New Zealand version of eBay). Sellers are supposed to check for licences but the onus is on them to do it. No one else is checking. The journalist described the transaction as ridiculously easy. I looked on TradeMe today and you can still buy guns.
Around the corner from our old house in Christchurch was a gun superstore. It was kind of like a Toys-r-us but for guns. I was always a bit shocked whenever I saw it and wondered who would go into such a place. In Britain we have a knife crime problem but I’d rather have a knife problem over a gun problem any day. ASDA recently announced it would stop selling single kitchen knives to help combat the problem. TradeMe needs to do the same for guns.
rachel.blog 
NZ, you are in our hearts and thoughts today.
It is a really horrific situation. Worse yet, is that the shooter was inspired by the stupid right-wing mass shooters we have endured here in the US … and our President isn’t helping matters either. Yes, NZ, you are in our thoughts.
That’s exactly why the media shouldn’t name the shooters. It inspires others.
My sister in law works for the New Zealand Customs department. Many years ago she went to the main NZ Post headquarters. They had to open a percentage of parcels to ascertain contents that are unsafe to post… This includes nail polish, which, silly me, sent to a friend in Japan. It was returned with guidelines on what cannot be posted overseas. My friend sent me some sort of scrub from Canada. Because of NZ’s justifiable biosecurity regulations. I had to pay either 75$ to have it treated. I regret that I didn’t pay it now, as my friend is no longer with us. The other things that come through the post are firearms. Alas some make it through. Even though people are supposed to have a license for a gun, alas they are a security measure for a group of people who consider themselves above the law. A collector of guns in Rural Taranaki was robbed at gunpoint of his rifle collection. I’m not sure if they were recovered…The man who came to interview me to check that my husband was of sound mind to have his gun license renewed told me some interesting accounts about other situations he had been worried about granting a license… Especially where the partner would not leave the room or look through the window. It’s not the nut inside the gun… Its the nut behind them.
I’m pleased to read that it looks like New Zealand will now tighten its gun laws. It’s just a shame that it took something like this to make that happen. If they’d done it decades ago then those people who were murdered this week may still be alive.