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In the aftermath of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about public safety, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could happen. But, from the perspective of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the most important discussion we are finally having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health experts have been sounding alarms about guns for at least a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a suite of measures to curb gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare major events, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Current Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in international mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already fissures in the united front.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the terrible toll of the incident demonstrates that current gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, 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 citizens in urban areas reportedly holding arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Path Forward: Announced Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a package of measures to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has announced a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible provided that the nation works together. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a journey across a state line.

Addressing Common Arguments

We hear the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to move 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the firearms they used.

Weighing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or culling pests in many places is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of guns from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to ensure that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the envy 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 critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and make certain that future generations are as protected as previous generations have been.

As one friend remarked after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation experiences.