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Teen Girl Complains To New Zealand Prime Minister For Taking Away Her AR-15 Rifle

Teen Girl Complains To New Zealand Prime Minister For Taking Away Her AR-15 Rifle

The 13-year-old said she burst into tears when she handed over her semi-automatic rifle.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

There has been a lot of talk about the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle over the last few years.

It's one of the more popular weapons in America and has been used in several high profile mass shootings in the US and around the world, namely in the Port Arthur massacre in Australia and Christchurch terror attack.

New Zealand banned the sale of semi-automatic firearms, magazines, and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms in March this year following the tragic attack, which claimed the lives of more than 50 people.

PA

You'd think that stopping this type of weapon from being used around the country would be a good thing, however there is a small group of people who are fuming.

Maddy Millen-Turner has written a letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, complaining about the ban and how it has affected her.

"Frustration and annoyance and just very upset. Me and my dad, we went to Waihi and handed in both of our ARs and also some other guns and parts. It was very tough. I did have an outburst of tears and I couldn't handle it. It was really bad," the 13-year-old told the NZ Herald.

"I was very angry and I wanted to let Jacinda know that because everyone was like, talking about it and saying 'I'm very angry, I want Jacinda to know', but I felt like no one really did anything about it ... so I decided to speak up on behalf of New Zealand shooters who thought the same way as me."

PA

The teenager uses the weapon in competitions with her dad, under his licence, as well as hunting for some food every now and then.

She's wanted an AR-15 for a while and she was finally gifted one for her 13th birthday.

Maddy says Ms Ardern's decision to ban the use of these types of weapons stops people like her who use them appropriately and under the right circumstances.

"You can go hunting for like deer and stuff but, like, we don't do it for trophies we do it to provide food for the family on the table...also we could do three-gun shooting which is you have a shotgun, a pistol and you can use another type of rifle and I would have used that one - the AR-15 - with it," she said.

PA

Ms Ardern has responded to Maddy's complaint, saying her government had to do something following the Christchurch attack and sadly AR-15s had to go.

"The question we had to ask ourselves is 'do you require a gun that can have 20- or 30-round magazines attached to them ... are they necessary to undertake hunting, for instance, and the answer for us was no," she told Morning Report.

"My understanding is that the AR-15 can use a 20- or 30-round detachable box magazine. It's those guns where you don't have to reload and you can fire continuously that can cause the amount of harm we saw on March 15."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News