Jacinda Ardern Reacts To Texas School Shooting And Explains How NZ Tackled Gun Reform

Kiwi Prime Minister has reacted to the Texas mass shooting where 21 people were killed.

While appearing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Jacinda Ardern spoke of her country’s response following the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, where 51 people died and 40 were left injured.

She said: "When I watch from afar and see events such as those today I think of them not as a politician, I see them just as a mother and I am so sorry for what happened here.

 "We are a very pragmatic people. When we saw something like that happen, everyone said 'Never again'”.

She added: "We have legitimate needs for guns in our country for things like pest control...but you don't need a military-style semi-automatic weapon to do that. So we got rid of them."

Following the mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand banned almost all semi-automatic firearms and rifles.

However, Ardern said to Colbert that while parliament amended the country’s gun laws, there is still work to be done.

The recent tragedy at Robb Elementary in Texas marks the deadliest school shooting since 2012's Sandy Hook massacre.

It has reignited the debate about whether the US will change their laws around weapons to ensure it's harder for something like this to happen again.

During his speech yesterday at the White House, US President Joe Biden called on Congress to change the country’s gun laws following the mass shooting.

I’m addressing the nation on the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. https://t.co/8WI1nWHu6R

— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022

He said: "As a nation we have to ask, when in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?

"When in God's name — what we all know we need to do in our gut — do what needs to be done?

"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. Don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage."

He also revealed that there had been 900 incidents of shootings on school campuses since the Sandy Hook tragedy.

NBA’s Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also made an emotional plea before his team played Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, which has since gone viral.

Steve Kerr on today's tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022

He said: “I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings. 

“I ask you: Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers? Because that’s what it looks like.”