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Following the tragedy of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about how such an tragedy could occur. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the most important discussion we are finally having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and implemented a suite of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none approaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Existing Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the next round. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, 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.

Stopping another Bondi demands unity across all states. Regrettably, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

A System Under Strain

Yet, the horrific consequences of the incident demonstrates that current firearm regulations are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in cities owning collections of hundreds of weapons.

The nation has grown complacent and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a suite of measures to mitigate the public danger 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 aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to gun control, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the reality of the Australian federation – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a journey across a border.

Addressing Common 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. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to transport 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed 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 possessed.

Balancing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin 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 updated to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it previously was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as past generations have been.

A friend remarked after the Bondi events, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the attack was, there is hope that it can become the last one the nation experiences.