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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical conversations. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent worry about public safety, and inquiries about the way such an event could happen. However, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important discussion we are finally having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Proven Solution

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events 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. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none approaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Role of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced firearms had been accessible.

Preventing a future Bondi demands unity across all states. Regrettably, there are already cracks in the facade.

Legislation Showing Weakness

However, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that existing firearm regulations are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Ahead: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding new firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will soon introduce a suite of reforms to reduce the public danger from firearms. The national government has proposed a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible if the nation works together. As stated, regarding gun control, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Countering Common Arguments

There is the inevitable response that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Weighing Necessity and Security

There are valid reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected 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 maintain its security. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation experiences.