Kate Fantinel: WA firearm owners stung by gun crackdown pin hopes on social media influencer ‘Lady Liberty’

WA firearm owners stung by the WA Government’s gun crackdown have pinned their hopes on an alt-right social media influencer who fights tyranny under the persona “Lady Liberty”. More than $135,000 has been donated to a GoFundMe page set up by ant-establishment activist Kate Fantinel, who has vowed to “fight WA’s gun laws in the courts” through a “pro-firearms lawsuit”. But licence holders have been warned that their donations are bankrolling preliminary legal work, not a court challenge, despite Ms Fantinel’s pledge to fund a “team of lawyers for real legal action against the State”. She has used her ladyliberty.com.au website to explain how she had engaged Joondalup legal firm Carter Dickens Lawyers, and a King’s Counsel, to examine the 2024 Firearms Act. Under the eye-catching headlines about court action, Ms Fantinel makes it clear that money raised will “solely be used to fund the work required to obtain the information required for individual shooters to seek legal recourse” against the Act, which comes into full effect at the end of this month. “I will use this expert legal advice to inform shooters about the options available to fight the new gun laws in the courts,” she states. The donation caveat means individual gun owners will have to pay for any formal legal challenge. By Monday evening about 900 people had donated more than $135,000 — four times the target — with the top donor forking out $3000. A YouTube channel popular with shooters recently uploaded an episode entitled “The WA legal action fundraiser that is not paying for legal action”. The host of the show warned viewers to read the fine print about the legal bid. “There is no confusion about what shooters are donating to,” Ms Fantinel told The West Australian. “I have been clear about the purpose of my campaign: to pay for legal advice, authored by a King’s Counsel, so we know where we can challenge (Police Minister Paul) Papalia’s tyrannical gun laws in the courts. “Because of the overwhelming response and result of the State election, I have now raised a war chest which can help fund future lawsuits. “I started the campaign back in January because the shooting organisations were focused on a political solution, and no one else was looking at legal challenges.” In an update on March 13, Ms Fantinel said “almost every page of the Act and regulations present real issues for law-abiding firearm owners”. “Because of this, my team has estimated that it will take two weeks minimum to write the letter of opinion, an extensive legal document that will provide clear direction on what areas we can challenge in the WA courts,” she wrote. Ms Fantinel considered running against Mr Papalia in the seat of Secret Harbour at the recent election, but pulled out after it became “devastatingly clear to me that there are men in certain shooting organisations who will deliberately disrupt and not support my campaign”. “I have been subjected to more attacks, disrespect and underhandedness from certain shooting organisations than I ever have from the Labor Party and anti-gun community,” she said in a January 20 post. “It is a toxic culture with no regards for how such disunity affects the everyday shooter.” As well as railing against big government, Ms Fantinel uses her website to sell swimwear emblazoned with the phrase “tread on those who tread on you”, G-strings stamped with “don’t tread on my thong” and coffee mugs claiming “taxation is theft”.