Bookstore bans best-selling Jordan Peterson book in wake of New Zealand mosque attacks

A New Zealand bookstore has banned one of Canadian author and professor Jordan Peterson's best-selling books in the wake of the mosque massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand.

A man opened fire on two mosques during times of prayer last week, killing 50 people and injuring dozens more. Authorities arrested a gunman in the attack.

You can read more on the tragedy here.

What are the details?

New Zealand's Whitcoulls is no longer selling Peterson's best-seller, "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos," in response to the massacre.

In an email that's gone viral on social media, Whitcoulls admitted that it is not selling the book any longer.

The email read, "Unfortunately 12 Rules for Life is currently unavailable, which is a decision that Whitcoulls has made in light of some extremely disturbing material being circulated prior, during, and after the Christchurch attacks.

"As a business which takes our responsibilities to our communities very seriously, we believe it would be wrong to support the author at this time," the email added. "Apologies that we're not able to sell it to you, but we appreciate your understanding."

The store did not elaborate on what, specifically, prompted them to ban the book from its shelves, but social media users as well as Newshub have indicated that Peterson's decision to pose for a fan photo with a man wearing a T-shirt reading "I'm a proud Islamophobe" could be the culprit.

The photo was taken in February, according to screenshots.

For his part, Peterson actively condemns violence of any kind.

Anything else?

ACT Party leader David Seymour told New Zealand's Newshub that banning books isn't a way to go about conducting business.

"You don't fight neo-Nazism by suppressing reading and books. Anyone who knows any history knows that's the opposite of how you fight these kind of ideas," Seymour said. "A self-help book is an incredibly strange thing to suppress. I think Whitcoulls have made the wrong decision, but I respect they're a private company, it's their right."