What’s the status of gun ownership in New Zealand compared to Australia? I always see that post talking about how Australia had one shooting and then everyone got rid of their guns, but I don’t know if that’s accurate or if New Zealand is as hard on gun ownership or what.
There’s been a bit of a crackdown on some types of guns (assault rifles in particular) since the Christchurch mosque shootings and it’s gradually getting more expensive to (legally) own firearms but rifles and shotguns are still extremely common in rural areas.
My high school had two different types of shooting teams, and I first learnt how to shoot on a field out the back of my suburban intermediate when I was 11 or 12 years old. That was in the late 00s / early 10s so things might have changed but guns are still relatively normal - my local botanical garden gets shut down at night once a year so hunters can shoot any possums, and that’s right next to our uni campus!
That said, our attitude towards them is quite different to places like the USA - you’ll basically never see civilians carrying guns (outside of a shooting range or hunting) and even our cops hardly ever carry firearms on their person. You’re also not allowed to murder somebody just for trespassing on your property or trying to rob you, though using equivalent force to defend yourself is fine.