Jacinda Ardern's lesson for gun-friendly countries

New Zealand has banned the sale of all 'military style' semi-automatics, assault rifles and high capacity magazines, less than a week after 50 people died in live-streamed shootings at two Christchurch mosques.

The government will use a buyback programme to remove now-banned weapons from the streets. In this phenomenally quick response to the national tragedy, New Zealand has set an example for the United States, the world's most gun-friendly nation that only offers 'thoughts and prayers' to victims.

Not only to the United States, but also to all those countries which denounce terrorism of all sorts but blatantly arm terror groups and train them against their neighbours, New Zealand has set an example.

Pakistan has gone ahead and thanked the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, for her sagacity and wisdom in handling the terror event. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan telephoned the Prime Minister of New Zealand and appreciated her firm stance against rising Islamophobia and global extremism, following the terrorist attack at two Christchurch mosques, in which 50 worshipers lost their lives.

"Prime Minister Ardern has shown the way to other leaders in the face of rising Islamophobia and global extremism," Pak Prime Minister Khan said, in a statement issued by the PM Office.

Imran Khan appreciated the quick response of the local authorities, the "humane handling" and compassion of Jacinda Ardern for the Muslims who were in a state of shock after the horrific massacre at their places of worship.

He said he had made the telephone call on behalf of the people of Pakistan and "to thank her for her compassion, leadership and decisions that won her many admirers in Pakistan." It is all music to the ears.

However, what has Imran Khan done to eliminate terror? Any single action? Let alone curbing weapons, his government diligently arms the terror modules with weapons.

Just one major terror attack on Muslim minorities in her country, the New Zealand Prime Minister displayed her statesmanship qualities in controlling the weapons sale.

Whatever the country has decided to ban are the things that were used in the terror attack. In fact, many gun traders in New Zealand volunteered to honour the victims the best way they could: they pulled merchandise or blocked certain purchases while they await the reforms.

TradeMe, New Zealand's largest online auction website, announced it suspended the sale of semiautomatic weapons listening to the public sentiment.

That is some civilisation! Does the world learn anything from this country? There is a growing body of research that suggests that elevating the identity of the perpetrator in mass shootings leads to copycats.

The kind of men who commit such mass killings want something more than corpses. They want attention. Copycat massacres sprout from that attention, aiming for even higher ratings, which they generally get.

In fact, Australia had gone ahead and showed that tougher gun laws help restore peace in society.

After Tasmania shoot out, it went ahead and bought back 6,00,000 weapons, including semi-automatics, and destroyed the same. Where there is a will there is a way.