Rebecca Peters
{{short description|Political gun control advocate}}
{{about||the feminist and Christian social ethicist|Rebecca Todd Peters}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rebecca Peters
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|sep-,|AO}}
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| title = Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms
| term = 2002{{endash}}2010
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| boards = Australian National Coalition for Gun Control {{small|(former Chair)}}
| nationality = Australian
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| known_for = Gun control in Australia
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Rebecca Peters {{post-nominals|country=AUS|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|2012|04}}, Peters was listed on the IANSA board of directors.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}
Background
Rebecca Peters studied law.{{cite web |title=Rebecca Peters - The world's foremost gun control activist |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018659679/rebecca-peters-the-world-s-foremost-gun-control-activist |website=RNZ |publisher=Radio New Zealand |access-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831150330/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018659679/rebecca-peters-the-world-s-foremost-gun-control-activist |archive-date=31 August 2019 |language=en |date=25 August 2018 |url-status=live}}
As chair of the Australian National Coalition for Gun Control at the time of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Peters contributed to the introduction of stricter gun control in Australia, working on the homogenization of gun laws across Australia's 6 states and 2 territories, the ban on semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, and a year-long buyback that destroyed nearly 700,000 weapons.{{cite web |title=International Symposium on Individual Disarmament - Participant Biographies |url=http://www.umut.org.tr/eng/sempozyum/katilimcibiyog.html |website=umut.org.tr |publisher=UMUT FOUNDATION |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929154716/http://www.umut.org.tr/eng/sempozyum/katilimcibiyog.html |archive-date=29 September 2007 |language=en |date=18 January 2002 |url-status=dead}}{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} In a televised debate with Ian McNiven, vice-president of the Firearms Owners Association, the latter declared that guns were necessary for men to defend women against the invasion of Indonesians in Australia, to which she replied that domestic violence was probably a much bigger issue. Thinking his microphone was off, he muttered back «I tell you what, if I was married to Rebecca Peters I'd probably commit domestic violence too», thus exemplifying the gender issue in the gun politics arena.
She worked for the Open Society Institute, a private foundation funded by George Soros.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} From 2002 to 2010, Rebecca Peters served as Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).
In 2014, she moved to Guatemala to lobby in favor of stricter gun control policies, and to fundraise for the Transitions Foundation of Guatemala, a foundation specialized in helping disabled victims of gun violence.
She has been criticised by the National Rifle Association of America which claims that Peters "is the voice and face of hatred of gun owners and Second Amendment freedoms."
Recognitions
- 1996: Australian Human Rights Medal for her contribution to researching, educating and lobbying for gun law reforms in Australia.{{cite web |title=1996 Human Rights Medal and Awards Winners |url=https://hrawards.humanrights.gov.au/1996-human-rights-medal-and-awards-winners |website=Human Rights Awards |publisher=Australian Human Rights Commission |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426170651/https://hrawards.humanrights.gov.au/1996-human-rights-medal-and-awards-winners |archive-date=26 April 2013 |language=en |url-status=dead}}
- 2007: Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community as an advocate and campaigner for gun control.{{cite web |url=http://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2017/slkh83xzcb/AO%20Final%20Media%20Notes.pdf |title=Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia |work=Australia Day 2017 Honours List |publisher=Governor-General of Australia |date=26 January 2017 |access-date=27 January 2017 }}
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|Australia|Politics}}}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.iansa.org IANSA] - official web site
- [http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/18/new_town_to_newtown_how_96 Interview following U.S. Massacre at Newtown, Connecticut]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Rebecca}}
Category:Gun control advocates
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Officers of the Order of Australia
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