The massacre was the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand 's history until the Christchurch mosque massacre in March 2019 . It sparked lengthy debate about gun control , as Gray 's primary weapon was a Norinco 84S 5.56 mm semi-automatic rifle which had a similar appearance to and internal mechanism based on the Russian AK-47 assault rifle , and he owned three other semi-automatic firearms . Four of the dead victims and one of the injured were proven forensically to have been shot with the Norinco rifle , and another of the injured had been shot with Gray 's .22 cal Squires Bingham rifle . Fragments recovered from other victims did not lead to an identification of the weapon
Christchurch mosque massacre
Christchurch mosque shootings
Aramoana massacre