New Zealanders give up weapons after mosque killings
Christchurch: Dozens of New Zealanders handed in their firearms Saturday as a gun buyback scheme went into operation aimed at ridding the country of semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks.
The first of more than 250 collections to be held nationwide was in Christchurch, where 51 Muslim worshippers were gunned down while at prayer less than four months ago.
The government, with support from opposition parties, immediately rushed through legislation to tighten New Zealand's gun laws. Police Minister Stuart Nash said the objective was to "remove the most dangerous weapons from circulation".
With armed police monitoring the handover, 169 firearms owners handed in 224 weapons and 217 parts and accessories. They were then crushed in hydraulic presses.
More than USD 290,300 was paid out in compensation.
Regional police commander Mike Johnson said 903 gun owners in the Canterbury region, which includes Christchurch, had registered 1,415 firearms to be handed in.
"Police recognise that this is a big change for the law-abiding firearms community and we are hearing really positive feedback from people as they come through today that they are finding the process works well for them," Johnson said.
"Canterbury firearms owners' attitude towards this process has been outstanding." Ray Berard, who moved to New Zealand from Canada 25 years ago, handed in an assault rifle. He told reporters he had been in the Canadian army and on the Canada shooting team but believed there was no place for military-style firearms in modern society.
"My wife is working as one of the project directors on the hospital rebuild and we were there on the day of the shooting and watched the 35-odd hearses leave the next day," he said.
A person can "do a lot of damage to a lot of people... if you're mentally unwell and you have a weapon that can shoot 100 rounds a minute." Licenced firearms owners have six months to surrender weapons that have now been deemed illegal under the scheme, with an amnesty ensuring they will not face prosecution during that period.
After the amnesty expires, possession of a prohibited firearms will be punishable by up to five years in jail.
Australian-born Brenton Tarrant has been charged with the killings and is alleged to have used an arsenal of five weapons, including two military-style semi-automatic rifles, in the attacks on two mosques.
He has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, as well as 51 counts of murder and 40 of attempted murder.
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'Modi will never succeed in suppressing voice of Tamil people': Rahul on 'Jana Nayagan' row
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the Centre's "attempt to block" Vijay-starrer "Jana Nayagan" is an attack on Tamil culture, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will never succeed in "suppressing the voice of the Tamil people".
Gandhi's remarks come on a day he is on a visit to poll-bound Tamil Nadu where the row over actor-turned-politician Vijay's Tamil film has snowballed into a major issue.
The producer of the film approached the Supreme Court, challenging a January 9 interim order of the Madras High Court that stayed a single-judge direction to grant the CBFC clearance to the movie.
The Madras High Court has left the fate of the film, which has drawn attention for its political overtones, in limbo.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "The I&B Ministry's attempt to block 'Jana Nayagan' is an attack on Tamil culture."
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"Mr Modi, you will never succeed in suppressing the voice of the Tamil people," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
KVN Productions LLP has filed an appeal against the order passed by a division bench of the high court.
Vijay recently launched his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). "Jana Nayagan", which is widely publicised as Vijay's final film before his full-fledged entry into politics, was slated for a Pongal release on January 9.
However, the film ran into last-minute hurdles after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) did not issue certification in time.
On January 9, the division bench's order came hours after Justice PT Asha directed the CBFC to give clearance to "Jana Nayagan", setting aside the film board's directive to refer the matter to a review committee.
The first bench, comprising Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan, on an appeal filed by the CBFC, granted an interim stay against the single judge's verdict.
Earlier, allowing the plea of KVN Productions seeking a direction to CBFC to issue a censor certificate, Justice Asha said once the board had decided to grant the certificate, the chairperson had no power to send the matter to the review committee.
The film board immediately preferred an appeal against the order.
Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared through video conferencing, outlined the grounds for the appeal before the division bench.
The January 6 letter of CBFC, which was communicated to the producer of the film, informing him that the matter was referred to the revising committee, was not at all under challenge. But the single judge set aside the letter and gave the above direction.
In its order, the division bench said the petition was filed on January 6, and the CBFC was not granted sufficient opportunity to file its reply.
There shall be a stay, the bench added and ordered notice to the producer of the movie and posted the matter to January 21.
