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In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing conversations. There is a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an ongoing worry about national security, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could happen. But, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the most important discussion we are finally having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and implemented a suite of measures to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none approaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Current Regulations

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. Reports indicate the alleged attackers might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been available.

Preventing another Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the united front.

A System Under Strain

However, the horrific consequences of the attack demonstrates that current gun laws are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have worn away their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Ahead: Proposed Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding strengthened firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will soon introduce a package of reforms to reduce the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to gun control, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Addressing Common Arguments

There is the inevitable argument that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is true 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 internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult 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 Safety

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws have historically been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as past generations have been.

As one friend observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.