Gun Control Australia (GCA) is an Australian incorporated anti-gun association that advocates for tighter

gun laws Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to ...

. It
website
is run by volunteer lawyers, public health academics and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

activists. The organisation is funded by community donations and is not officially affiliated with any political party. The organisation was originally known as the National Coalition for Gun Control, established by Rebecca Peters. The current GCA was incorporated in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on 26 August 2013. Its Chair is Samantha Lee and Vice President is Roland Browne, both are lawyers who have volunteered in the area of gun control for over ten years.

History

There was a Gun Control Australia (GCA) based in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

that was formed by an activist named John Crook, who from the late 1970s wrote articles and made presentations challenging the basis of private firearms ownership. In 1981, Mr Crook used the public concern from the killing of two girls in separate crimes in 1981, and with the support of the victims' parents formed "The Council to Control Gun Misuse". The group was strengthened in 1987 after the spree killings in

Hoddle Street Hoddle Highway is an urban highway in Melbourne linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway, itself a sub-section of Hoddle Main Road. Both these names are not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the n ...

and Queen Street in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In 1988 after the Hoddle and Queen Street shootings, a local group was formed under the aegis of Jac Renzenbrink to see what could be done. This group was augmented by John Crook, who had been active in gun control ever since the Bacsa shooting, Jim Williams, a former shooter, and Carolyn Worth, a

women's rights activist Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. Later on Roland Brown and Lee Rhiannon became involved. One result of these meetings was the publication of Gun Control Review (ISSN 1032-674x) in Ballarat by Jim Williams and Peter Baird. It ran to three issues and its recommendations foreshadowed the legislation implemented under

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

. A trifold pamphlet entitled ''Gun Control: some questions and answers'' was also produced. Currently Gun Control Australia receives public donations.

Activities

Samantha Lee has written various opinion pieces for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. John Crook, has written or edited many articles and booklets, self-published under the banner of Gun Control Australia, the last in 2003. GCA maintains a website and occasionally features in media reports on gun law issues. At its height in the mid-1990s, its spokespersons were very prominent in media discussions and conferences on gun violence. A short-lived website claimed major public health and other associations as its members, but was removed about 1998. In 1996,

Rebecca Peters Rebecca Peters is a political advocate for gun control who served as Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) from 2002 to 2010. , Peters was listed on the IANSA board of directors. Background Rebecca Peters studied ...

, the then Chair of NCGC, received the Australian

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but oper ...

's Community Human Rights award.

Membership

Prominent former members, who are no longer involved with NCGC or GCA, include Simon Chapman, who has published research on the effects of gun control laws,

, who went on to work for IANSA, an international gun control NGO, and former co-chair and spokesperson

Tim Costello Timothy Ewen Costello AO (born 4 March 1955) is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a ...

Litigation history

GCA has attacked the

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia The Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia (SSAA) is a federated non-government organisation established in 1948 as a representative body to promote shooting sports and protect the legal rights and interests of firearm owners in Australia ...

(SSAA), a federated group of shooting sport clubs with over 180,000 members at 2015, as "extremist" and "pro-violence". In 1995, GCA were taken to court by the SSAA for this comment. GCA's lawyers successfully defended the case on the then-new basis that they were engaging in constitutionally-protected

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

References

{{reflist

External links