New Zealand could ban some criminals from being near guns

New Zealand’s government is proposing legislation to ban certain criminals from being anywhere near guns even if they didn’t own them, a measure that politicians acknowledge has significant human rights implications.

The proposed law would make it illegal for some criminals to live or visit a house where a gun is present or to travel in a car that has a gun inside.

The proposal is the latest gun-control measure introduced by the government since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in March vowed to overhaul gun laws in the days after a gunman killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques.

Since then, the government has banned assault weapons such as AR-15-style rifles and has introduced a bill that would create a gun registry to track all guns in the country.