Rebecca Peters is a political advocate for

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...

who served as Director of the

International Action Network on Small Arms The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) was incorporated on 30 May 2002 under the laws of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The IANSA London office was closed in 2015, but it has an active UN liaison office in ...

(IANSA) from 2002 to 2010. , Peters was listed on the IANSA board of directors.

Background

Rebecca Peters studied law.Rebecca Peters - The world's foremost gun control activist
''Rnz.co.nz'', 25 August 2018 (accessed on 31 August 2019) As chair of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n 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. 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 Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a st ...

, a private foundation funded by

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

. From 2002 to 2010, Rebecca Peters served as Director of the

(IANSA). In 2014, she moved to

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

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 criticized by the United States

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

which claims that Peters "is the voice and face of hatred of gun owners and

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

freedoms."

Recognitions

*1996: Australian Human Rights Medal for her contribution to researching, educating and lobbying for gun law reforms in Australia.1996 Human Rights Medal and Awards Winners
/ref> *2007:

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

for distinguished service to the community as an advocate and campaigner for gun control.

References

External links

IANSA
- official web site
Interview following U.S. Massacre at Newtown, Connecticut
Living people Australian activists Gun control advocates Year of birth missing (living people) Officers of the Order of Australia {{Australia-bio-stub

Background

Recognitions

See also

References

External links