You may remember we put out a media release in May calling on Governments in all Australian jurisdictions to exercise extreme caution when considering information provided by The Australia Institute.
In this release (Australia Institute Compromising Community Safety – Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia (SSAA)) we stated that “the rubbery information published by The Australia Institute about firearms regulation is misleading at best, and at worst, will jeopardise community safety”, and that “the SSAA is committed to driving and contributing to evidence-based public policy that supports community safety, not clickbait and donations.”
Apparently, the Australia Institute somehow find this problematic.
We’ve uncovered that in response to our highly responsible statement that the Australia Institute sent out a mass email before the end of the financial year stating that the gun lobby has launched an ATTACK on them and in a blinding flash of irony, used it to seek donations:
The email is littered with blatant misinformation including that we’ve “donated millions of dollars to political parties”. The SSAA Inc. does not donate to political parties.
This builds on the massive amount of misinformation we’ve found in many of their firearms related publications that they use to advocate for tighter restrictions. Considering this, we’ve pulled together just a few of their assertions to compare them to reality.
This is exactly why the SSAA is committed to driving and contributing to evidence-based public policy that supports community safety, not clickbait and donations.
Firearms regulation is an incredibly serious matter. This is not an issue for Think Tanks to kick around and create confusion and use as an opportunity for notoriety. Over regulation can lead to perverse outcomes and compromise public safety, and we will exercise every opportunity to stand up for what’s right.