Adjudication No. 948 (October 1997) [1997] APC 49

ADJUDICATION No. 948 (October 1997)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (W.A.) Inc. (SSA) against an article published in The West Australian on 13 September 1997.

Under the heading "Gun buyback works: police", the article states that police say a campaign by the gun lobby to persuade shooters not to surrender banned firearms has been a flop. It also states that the SSA advised gun owners in July not to surrender their weapons, claiming there was no legal requirement to, and predicted that mass non-compliance would force police to seize guns one by one, clogging the system for years.

In its complaint the SSA says there is not now, nor has there ever been, any campaign undertaken by it designed to enervate firearm laws in Western Australia, nor has it counselled in favour of non-compliance.

In reply The West Australian denies it has published misleading information in the report about which the SSA has complained. It says the reporter's notes and transcripts of interviews support the story.

Previously the SSA lodged a complaint with the Press Council against an article published in The West Australian of 14 July 1997. Following the publication of a letter from the SSA, it withdrew the complaint.

References to the SSA in the 13 September report are about matters raised in July.

A balance to the 13 September article was provided when the newspaper published a letter from the SSA expressing the Association's views.

The Australian Press Council finds there is no breach of its principles.