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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing reckonings. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent concern about national security, and questions about how such an tragedy could happen. However, as viewed of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the most important dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Proven Response

Public health specialists 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 series of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 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 shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Role of Existing Regulations

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. Although these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been accessible.

Stopping another Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen cracks in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible consequences 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 efficacy. Alarmingly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas owning arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

We have been complacent and it has cost us terribly.

The Path Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon introduce a suite of reforms to mitigate the collective risk posed by firearms. The national government has announced a new gun buyback, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are only possible provided that the nation works together. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Countering Common Objections

There is the inevitable argument that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

It is acknowledged there are legitimate needs for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long 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 once was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that future generations are equally safe as past generations have been.

As one friend observed after the Bondi events, "such tragedies 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 become the final tragedy the nation experiences.