The legislative body of Zamastan passed one of the IDU's first ever total-nationwide gun buyback in the wake of the a released report that gun violence had reached an all time high in Zamastan. The buyback attracted around 809,000 gun owners at the announcement of the bill's passing on Sunday, according to law enforcement officials.
The buyback, which is available at any county office, is the first of more than 250 planned nationwide this year.
Gun owners turned in 300,000 semiautomatic weapons and more than 800,000 banned gun parts, receiving a total of Z$8,433,682. Speaker of the Chamber Foley Sakzi said he was "ecstatic" with the turnout, which he said was strong despite concerns from local gun rights groups that gun owners participating in the buyback might be demonized.
This first buyback comes four months after a gunman entered three houses in Emerald, killed 4 people and injured dozens more. The alleged gunman is now facing 4 charges of murder, and several charges of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial is expected to begin in May of next year.
In the aftermath of the shooting, and in the aftermath of the report stating that 700 Zamastanians had been killed by guns as of August 1st, 2019, Congressional Hall's lower chamber voted 362-138 pass a bill allowing for the buyback, as well as banning most semiautomatic weapons. An addition to the bill outlaws parts that allow lower-powered firearms to modified into higher-powered ones.
At the bill's final reading, President Anya Bishop, who has garnered international recognition for her support for the buyback, gave an impassioned speech from Sanctaria, where she is visiting until Tuesday.
"I could not fathom how weapons that could cause such destruction and large-scale death could be obtained legally in this country," she said.
Zamastan's gun control laws were already relatively strict compared to other nations, but the country has rarely denied gun licenses to applicants. Before April, citizens as young as 16 years old could obtain "Category-1 licenses," which allowed them to purchase the types of semiautomatic weapons that the Congressional Hall has now banned.
Zamastan does not track the vast majority of its gun sales, so the total amount of weapons in the country is unknown. According to estimates, the country likely has somewhere between 15.2 and 15.5 million guns across its 102.6 million residents — or roughly one weapon for every 7 residents.