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In the aftermath of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent concern about public safety, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could occur. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are finally having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Health experts have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a series of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, requiring a physical action to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced firearms had been accessible.

Preventing a future Bondi requires unity across all states. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the united front.

A System Under Strain

However, the terrible consequences of the incident demonstrates that current firearm regulations are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

The nation has grown complacent and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Forward: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW specifically will shortly enact a package of measures to reduce the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.

These measures are feasible provided that the nation works together. As stated, regarding firearm laws, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – laws in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Countering Frequent Arguments

There is the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the firearms they possessed.

Balancing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are legitimate reasons for some Australians to own guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of guns from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the envy of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and make certain that future generations are as protected as past generations have been.

A commentator remarked after the Bondi events, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. As nightmarish as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation ever sees.