During the New Zealand government’s six-month buyback scheme that was launched by amnesty in the wake of the March 15 Christchurch mosque shootings that left 51 people dead, over 56, 000 firearms have been collected so far, according to police on Saturday.
Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement said that a large number of firearms handed in showed that most of the gun owners understood why the buyback was launched, The New Zealand Herald reported.
Addressing to the media, Clement said, “We hope to never again see the kind of attack we saw in Christchurch”.
According to the provisional figures, 56,250 firearms and 194,245 parts had been handed in during the six-month buyback scheme that ended on Friday midnight.
Forty-three gun dealers also collected 6145 firearms on behalf of the police.
Police also experienced a last-minute rush with 4,154 hand-ins during the final week.
“We kept our collection events open late last (Friday) night to ensure the firearms owners who left it to the last minute did have the opportunity to do the right thing,” Clement added.
In June, the New Zealand government launched a multi-billion dollar six-month ‘buyback’ scheme to compensate the owners of powerful but newly banned semi-automatic weapons.
Brenton Tarrant, an Australian man accused of carrying out the attacks, was alleged to have an arsenal of five weapons, including two military-style semi-automatic rifles (MSSAs).
Tarrant, the prime accused, has been charged with 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and engaging in a terrorist act on March 15.