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Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple critical reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent worry about public safety, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could occur. However, as viewed of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none approaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the next round. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the horrific consequences of the attack reveals that existing gun laws are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before 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: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding new gun laws. New South Wales specifically will soon enact a package of measures to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are only possible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, regarding firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian system – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a state line.

Countering Common Objections

We hear the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Balancing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid reasons for some Australians to possess firearms. Farm work or controlling vermin in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and ensure that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one 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 incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation experiences.