Democrats praised New Zealand when they announced their mandatory gun buyback, but a recent report shows the program is a disaster.
Following the horrific mosque shootings that left more than 50 dead, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a mandatory gun buyback program. The mandate called for all gun owners — with the exception of some specific economic groups, such as farmers — turn over all semi-automatic “military style” weapons to the government.
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According to a new report from the Washington Post, only 700 of the estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million firearms in New Zealand have been turned over to authorities.
Gun owners have until December 20 before it becomes a crime to own the weapons, but many are waiting it out in hopes that some laws will change in the meantime. Activists have vowed to take the issue to the courts through a class action lawsuit against the government of New Zealand.
They’re hoping they can sue on grounds that the buyback is an unfair confiscation of property because the buyback rates are so low that some owners would receive only 30% of the market price for their weapons.
But money isn’t the only reason gun owners aren’t turning over their weapons.
Paul Clark, the owner of New Zealand Ammunition, told the Radio New Zealand that he could see this leading to a “revolution,” which is clearly a worst-case scenario. Clark later noted that he was not calling for violence, but the tension between gun owners and the government is clear. – READ MORE