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Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing reckonings. There is a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about national security, and inquiries about the way such an tragedy could occur. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount discussion we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Proven Response

Health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. 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 reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Role of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a physical action to chamber the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired rapidly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in international mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been accessible.

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

A System Under Strain

Yet, the horrific toll of the attack demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their efficacy. Concerningly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in urban areas reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Road Forward: Proposed Reforms

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a suite of measures to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The national government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, regarding gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – laws in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a border.

Countering Frequent Objections

We hear the inevitable response that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, 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 horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had been denied access to the firearms they used.

Balancing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are legitimate needs 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 not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is no longer as safe as it previously was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are equally safe as past generations have been.

A friend remarked after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to maintain its security. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation experiences.