Gun Control Australia

Gun Control Australia (GCA) is a gun-control lobbying group in Australia. The group was formed in 1981 to press for stricter gun laws. In 2012 the spokespersons of the National Coalition for Gun Control (NCGC) merged with GCA. Its President is John Crook.

History

Gun Control Australia (GCA) was formed by activist John Crook, who from the late 1970s wrote articles and made presentations challenging the basis of private ownership of firearms. 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 after the spree killings in Hoddle Street and Queen Street in Melbourne, Australia, 1987.

The organisation was renamed to "Gun Control Australia" (GCA) in 1988.

In July 2012, GCA announced a merger with the National Coalition for Gun Control.

Activities

The President of the organisation, John Crook, has written or edited many articles and booklets, self-published under the banner of Gun Control Australia, the last in 2003.[1] GCA maintains a website and occasionally features in media reports on gun law issues.

Gun Control Australia has produced booklets and articles on the social, ethical and legal aspects of gun misuse. It is independent with no connections to political parties, unions or professional organisations. It lobbied parliamentarians and once actively opposed what it called the "Gun Lobby" in Australia.

NCGC in its last years before the 2012 merger appeared only in very occasional press announcements. 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 the NCGC received the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Community Human Rights award.

Membership

The July 2012 merger announcement named President John Crook and spokesperson Rhonda Collins as being joined by NCGC spokespersons Samantha Lee and Roland Browne bringing the total membership of GCA to more than 4 people.

There are a very small number of prominent former members, who are no longer involved with NCGC or GCA. Professor Simon Chapman has published research on the effects of gun control laws using his university credentials; he mentions his past activism in NCGC in his curriculum vitae.[2] Other former high profile members were Rebecca Peters who went on to spend over ten years working for IANSA, an international gun control NGO; and former co-chair and spokesperson the Rev Tim Costello.

The membership of Gun Control Australia is small and declining. The spokesman for the organisation at the "Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee - 14/10/2014 - Ability of Australian law enforcement authorities to eliminate gun related violence in the community", refused to disclose even the number of members.

"Senator McKENZIE: On what grounds are you objecting to answering the question?

Mr Browne : That it is beyond the terms of the inquiry.

CHAIR: Generally, on the terms of the inquiry, we in the Senate tend to take a broad approach to the terms of reference. 'And any other matters' is a standard reference in a committee reference by the Senate. In a sense, I do not think you can be required to answer the question, but it is a question that is appropriate to be asked and can be asked.

Mr Browne : Well, I am not going to answer the question. [3]

Litigation history

GCA has claimed that the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA), a federated group of sporting clubs with over 180,000 members at 2015, is 'extremist' and 'pro-violence'. In 1995 GCA were taken to court for this comment. GCA's lawyers defended the case successfully on the then-new basis that they were engaging in constitutionally-protected free speech.[4] The judge stated that:

In his opening for the plaintiff, Mr Wilson described Crook as a zealot - a description I regard as being only slightly exaggerated. In the considerable time he spent in the witness box, Crook gave the impression of being particularly dedicated to, and almost obsessed with the subject of gun control.[5]

In a media release on 8 April 2002, titled "Hail Carr, Hail the Great Pretender" John Crook made a claim that the SSAA had "produced" a person convicted of a firearm-related manslaughter in Victoria. Mr Crook subsequently apologised unreservedly and agreed to meet the SSAA legal costs. Mr Crook also agreed to forward a copy of his apology to everyone who received the original media release [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Crook, John. "A Curse Called Handguns". GCA. Retrieved 19 Jan 2014.
  2. ↑ Curriculum vitae: Simon Chapman
  3. ↑ http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/commsen/0e3f74c3-7547-432b-a94e-1c705cc5edba/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20References%20Committee_2014_10_14_2956.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf
  4. ↑ "The Law Report". Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  5. ↑ 1995 judgment by His Honour Judge Shelton, in the matter of the SSAA (Vic) vs. Gun Control Australia, as cited in Tobin, T. K. & Sexton, M. G. (1990). Australian defamation law and practice, Sydney: Butterworths p. 43,442.
  6. ↑ Bill Shelton, Australian Shooters Journal, 2002 | http://www.ssaa.org.au/asj/asj-2002-v4-4.pdf
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