By now you’re almost certainly aware of a West Australian newspaper doxxing gun owners in the state on Tuesday by publishing maps showing the specific locations where firearms are registered.
We’ve been flat out fighting back against this outrage, which has far-reaching implications, but wanted to take a few moments this morning to update you on what we’ve been doing:
- Made a formal complaint to the Editor In Chief of the West Australian, calling for:
- An unreserved front-page apology to every gun owner in WA
- Disciplinary action against everyone responsible for writing/approving/publishing the story
- Fully and without reservation covering any costs incurred by people who are impacted by the publication of the story and maps; including but not limited to paying for upgrades to their home security/firearms storage facilities;
- Cease publishing stories implying in any way, shape or form that licensed firearms owners as a group are a community safety risk or threat;
- A commitment to never publish stories about licensed firearms ownership/use without ensuring equal or greater prominence is also given to comment from peak body shooter representative groups such as ourselves, the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, or the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia in the story.
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Lodged a Formal Complaint with the West Australian Reader Editor and by extension Independent Media Council for multiple breaches of journalistic standards and ethics, as well as breaches of Seven West Media’s own privacy policy for news reporting
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Spoken directly with people directly affected by the publication of the maps and other concerned members of the WA shooting community on the issue, its impacts, and how to respond
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Liaised with SIFA regarding responses to issue and ways we can work together on this issue
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Begun seeking legal advice on possibility/feasibility of legal action over the incident. Expectation Management Note: Western Australia does NOT have a state Privacy Act and we are told the Commonwealth Privacy Act does not apply to State Government agencies. This is making it difficult to establish specifically what legislation may have been breached and how this issue can be responded to legally.
We still have plenty more to do and will keep you updated – but thought you’d appreciate some insight into some of what’s been happening already in the meantime!