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In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical conversations. There is a much-needed national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent worry about public safety, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. But, as viewed of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Proven Solution

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a suite of measures to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation experienced roughly one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired rapidly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been accessible.

Preventing another Bondi requires unity across all states. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible consequences of the attack demonstrates that existing gun laws are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Forward: Proposed Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding strengthened firearm legislation. New South Wales in particular will shortly enact a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

These measures are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a state line.

Addressing Frequent Objections

We hear the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, 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 virtually impossible for a pilot to transport 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the weapons they used.

Balancing Necessity and Safety

There are valid needs for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in many places is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of guns from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – 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 time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one friend remarked after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation experiences.