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In the aftermath of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about national security, 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 specialists have been issuing warnings about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a suite of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none reaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a one round at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with lethal results, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in international mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been available.

Preventing a future Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible consequences of the incident reveals that existing firearm regulations are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities owning collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Forward: Proposed Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will soon introduce a package of measures to reduce the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible provided that the nation works together. As noted, regarding firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a border.

Addressing Frequent Arguments

We hear the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the identical way that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the plane. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the firearms they used.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or culling pests in many places is incredibly hard without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and ensure that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one commentator observed after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.