There are a lot of people on social media Wednesday night wishing the United States were a lot like New Zealand and would have just banned guns after, well, after the first person was shot by one.

BREAKING: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced all assault weapons and "military-style automatic weapons" will be banned in the wake of last week's mosque shootings https://t.co/F1LYJMP4LN pic.twitter.com/ww4pCBmm8Y — CBS News (@CBSNews) March 21, 2019

Breaking: New Zealand to ban military-style semiautomatics, assault rifles and high-capacity magazines after mosque shootings https://t.co/gpxqy4mks6 — The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 21, 2019

We’ll likely hear a lot of 2020 hopefuls chime in on this, but Bernie Sanders might be first out of the gate:

This is what real action to stop gun violence looks like. We must follow New Zealand's lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States. https://t.co/lSAisDG9Ur — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 21, 2019

“Assault weapons.” OK.

And here we go https://t.co/WO0x2gQ9qz — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 21, 2019

Assault weapons are already banned here. Problem solved. — Nick S (@thesonx) March 21, 2019

What Bernie doesn’t know is that Assault rifles are already banned. — Art Steele (⌐■_■) (@ArtInSoCal63) March 21, 2019

Do u think he’s defined what an “assault weapon” is yet? Is it just the scary looking ones? — JM (@mjmiles5) March 21, 2019

They never miss an opportunity. — TXPatriot?? (@TXPatriot6) March 21, 2019

Banning really works well. I think we tried that with alcohol previously — Michael Hermens (@mhermens) March 21, 2019

Criminals will be sure to comply.? — ??✦ᎬᎠ✦?? (@Edfleet75) March 21, 2019

why don't we make murder illegal? if we did that, all the shootings in Chicago would stop. — Some random thoughts (@someideasnstuff) March 21, 2019

So when is Bernie going to ban shower doors? — Something Clever (@tstevensradio) March 21, 2019

Need to ban glass shower doors to they hurt people — jeff owen (@choketube) March 21, 2019

Let's ban socialism first. — H Arrington (@HArring31875891) March 21, 2019

That's what they did in his beloved USSR — Kurt Michaels (@kurt_michaels) March 21, 2019

He's a man once very much favored by the old Soviet Union speaking about banning guns.

Not good even for @BernieSanders — Terence D. Wilson (@Ramrod1958) March 21, 2019

Sounds like New Zealand’s government chose to take unilateral action and set aside any semblance of Liberty. — Karl Lieber (@kbrunolieber) March 21, 2019

I guess great leaders follow the lead of panicked politicians in lesser nations. — KnoxvegasMike (@mlittle101) March 21, 2019

Is this all we going to hear about tomorrow? ? — ANNORA11 (@AnilNS425) March 21, 2019

Yes … why can’t the United States be more like New Zealand … or Norway … or Finland … or Venezuela.

* * *

Update:

And here’s you-know-who already in awe of the power of government:

Sandy Hook happened 6 years ago and we can’t even get the Senate to hold a vote on universal background checks w/ #HR8. Christchurch happened, and within days New Zealand acted to get weapons of war out of the consumer market. This is what leadership looks like ⬇️ https://t.co/TcdR63anBt — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 21, 2019

That’s also what an entirely different country that doesn’t have the right to bear arms as a cornerstone of its constitution, in addition to numerous state laws. It’s also what confiscation and banning most semi-auto looks like, too. https://t.co/oAAHoK7VlN — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 21, 2019

Wow, it’s a lot more sweeping than we’d initially heard — there’s a mandatory buy-back? Um, no.

A ban of semi-auto, with "assault weapons" broadly defined as having detachable magazine and accepting five or more rounds; a mandatory buyback/confiscation costing set $200m; authorities also to look at gun store records and follow up with customers on what they own. https://t.co/bQTXndqNrc — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 21, 2019

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