Thousands of firearms have been handed in and millions of dollars in compensation has been handed out during the first month of New Zealand's public gun collection events.

Key points:

• 8,000 firearms have been surrendered in New Zealand's buyback scheme
• New Zealand banned some weapons after the Christchurch massacre
• $17 million in compensation has been awarded to gun owners

The events have been held in the wake of the Christchurch shootings.

In March, 51 people died and 49 were injured when a lone gunman stormed into two mosques and opened fire with semi-automatic weapons and shotguns.

Within weeks, New Zealand's Parliament voted for tough gun law reforms, including a ban on semi-automatic firearms and a buyback scheme.

One month ago, the first public gun collection event was held in Christchurch, just a few kilometres from where the massacres took place.

More than 70 similar events have been held around the country since.