Like Everyone Else, Jacinda Ardern Is Baffled By America’s Attitude Towards Gun Control
"You can draw a line."
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has told CNN she does “not understand” why the United States is so opposed to gun control, pointing to the sweeping firearms reforms she championed in her country following the Christchurch terror attack that left 51 people dead.
Ardern gave an interview to the American news network in Paris ahead of a summit on online extremism, and was asked by journalist Christiane Amanpour whether other countries could learn from New Zealand and Australia in how they respond to mass shootings.
Ardern responded by saying New Zealand was a nation where guns had a “practical purpose” for things like hunting, but that it was important to “draw a line”.
“That does not mean you need access to military-style semiautomatic weapons and assault rifles,” Ardern said. “You do not. And New Zealanders by-and-large absolutely agree with that position”.
“Australia experienced a massacre and changed their laws,” she continued. “New Zealand had its experience and changed its laws. To be honest with you, I do not understand the United States.”
Watch the exchange, below.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: I “do not understand” U.S. gun laws pic.twitter.com/DRXm99y0JW
— TIME (@TIME) May 14, 2019