The leader of one of New Zealand's most notorious gangs has revealed his members won't hand over their guns in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack.

Sonny Fatu, president of Mongrel Mob, admitted many of the gang's estimated 1,000 associates owned illegal guns but would not be handing them to the government.

'Will gangs get rid of their weapons? No. Because of who we are, we can't guarantee our own safety,' Mr Fatu said to Stuff.

'It's not in our culture to inflict harm on innocent people like what happened in Christchurch.'

Sonny Fatu (pictured) said that his gang owns many guns but they won't hand them in because their lifestyle requires protection and they don't believe they are a risk to the public, unlike the Christchurch shooter

Mongrel Mob's strong stance on guns follows an announcement by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's outright ban on all military-style semiautomatic and assault rifles.

'In short, every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack will be banned in this country,' Arden said during a press conference.

Ms Ardern said government would introduce a buyback scheme to ensure 'fair and reasonable' compensation.

Mr Fatu said that ethnic gangs like his were mainly involved in gang-on-gang violence and their members police themselves so the public shouldn't be afraid of them possessing guns.

'The attacks between our organisations are gang-on-gang, they do not involve the non-gang members. Although there may be peripheral damage and violence that occasionally spills out into the public eye, it is absolutely and without intention for any harm to be caused to non-gang members.'

On March 15, accused Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant allegedly entered the Masjid al Noor and Linwood Masjid mosques and gunned down 50 Muslims.

The Mongrel Mob (pictured at Christchurch memorial) is an organised street gang with a network of more than thirty chapters throughout New Zealand

Mr Fatu said that ethnic gangs like his were mainly involved in gang-on-gang violence

The Mongrel Mob is an organised street gang with a network of more than thirty chapters throughout New Zealand.

Members of the gang have been arrested for operating several methamphetamine supply-and-distribution rings over the years.

They have also had numerous violent and public incidents with rival gangs.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting anyone pictured owns any illegal guns or has committed any crimes.