Rebecca Peters
Rebecca Peters AO | |
---|---|
Nationality | Australian |
Known for | Gun control in Australia |
Title | Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms |
Term | 2002–2010 |
Board member of | Australian National Coalition for Gun Control (former Chair) |
Rebecca Peters AO is a political advocate for gun control who served as Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) from 2002 to 2010. As of April 2012, Peters was listed on the IANSA board of directors.
As chair of the Australian National Coalition for Gun Control at the time of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Peters played a key role in the introduction of stricter gun control in Australia, an area in which she remains active today.
According to the Umut Foundation:[1]
Rebecca Peters was Chair of the National Coalition for Gun Control, which campaigned to tighten Australia's gun laws in the 1990s. Her research and advocacy helped bring about sweeping changes, including a move towards uniform gun laws across the eight states ( the laws are still not entirely uniform in 2011 ), a ban on semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, and a year-long buyback that destroyed nearly 700,000 weapons.
Peters received the 1996 Australian Human Rights Medal, for "her contribution to researching, educating and lobbying for gun law reforms in Australia".[2]
Prior to her work with IANSA, Peters worked for the Open Society Institute, a private foundation funded by George Soros.
The most expensive kind of violence, is gun violence.— Rebecca Peters, Great Gun Debate
She has been criticized by the United States National Rifle Association which claims that Peters "is the voice and face of hatred of gun owners and Second Amendment freedoms."[3]
In 2017 Peters was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community as an advocate and campaigner for gun control, and as a global leader in the reduction of the proliferation and misuse of small arms.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ UMUT Foundation
- ↑ 1996 Human Rights Medal and Awards Winners
- ↑ “Meet the Mastermind of the U.N. Global Gun ban Treaty” Stopthegunban.org/NRA, April 28, 2006
- ↑ "Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia" (PDF). Australia Day 2017 Honours List. Governor-General of Australia. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
External links
- IANSA - official web site
- Interview following U.S. Massacre at Newtown, Connecticut