New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to Colbert about ‘pragmatic’ gun control after Uvalde shooting

Stephen Colbert delivered an emotional message during his late show Monologue Tuesday night following the mass shooting of an 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed at least 19 schoolchildren and two adults.

“Well ladies and gentlemen we taped this show earlier in the day and I just want you to know, just before I came here tonight we found out about the unspeakable shooting in Uvalde, Texas tonight. And while we can add our prayers for the dead, they are there Nothing that can ever be said, which may approach the immeasurable grief of these families.

He continued, “But while we’re at it, let’s pray that our leaders will show a little courage this time to prevent something like this from ever happening again. But prayers won’t end this. vote could. So when you vote, ask yourself this question: Who, when running for office, publicly stated that they are willing to do whatever they can to protect your children from the criminal, insane number of guns in America?”

He later welcomed New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as a guest, and the pair discussed how their country introduced tough gun control laws and a gun buyback plan after the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings – which involved a right-wing extremist – which killed 51 people . (Just one out of 120 lawmakers voted against the law.) The measures have managed to curb gun violence in the country.

“Why was New Zealand able to do that when we can’t even pass universal background checks for people with a history of mental illness or violent behavior when 91 percent of Americans support it?” asked Colbert.

“I can only speak about our experience in New Zealand but when I watch from a distance and see events like today I don’t see her as a politician – I just see her as a mother and I’m so sorry for what happened here.” , she said. “And then I think about what happened to us and all I can reflect is: We are a very pragmatic people. When we saw something like that, everyone said, ‘Never again.’ And then it was up to us politicians to respond.”

“Now we have a legitimate need for weapons in our country for things like peacekeeping and protecting our biodiversity, but you don’t need a military-style semi-automatic weapon for that. And that’s how we got rid of that,” she added.