In the wake of the terrorist attack on the Muslim community in Christchurch, New Zealand’s medical students strongly
support the Government’s ban on military style semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines, which will progress
through Parliament this week. “Every possible step must be taken to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again in
our country,” says the President of the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association (NZMSA), Fraser Jeffery. “These
weapons can too easily be modified to take multiple human lives in a short space of time and should not be in the hands
of private citizens.”
The medical community has been shocked by their first hand experience of the attacks in Christchurch and the calls for
restrictions on such deadly weapons has been strong, including from the New Zealand Medical Association and the Royal
Australasian College of Physicians.
NZMSA acknowledges the incredible ongoing work of our medical colleagues in Christchurch Hospital in caring for the
injured and their families. We also commend the Christchurch medical students who have been involved in the care of
those injured whilst on clinical placement. We wish to remind all students of the support available to them through this time.