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In the aftermath of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an ongoing concern about public safety, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could happen. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Health experts have been issuing warnings about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and implemented a suite of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation experienced approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Role of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been accessible.

Preventing another Bondi demands unity across all states. Regrettably, we have already seen cracks in the united front.

A System Under Strain

However, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that current gun laws are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are now more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

We have been overconfident and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Forward: Proposed Changes

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been numerous announcements regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a new gun buyback, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the reality of the Australian system – laws in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a short drive across a state line.

Addressing Common Arguments

There is the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is accurate in the identical way that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter 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 weapons they possessed.

Weighing Need and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in rural areas 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 world 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 to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as past generations have been.

A commentator 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 maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.