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In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about national security, and questions about the way such an event could happen. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are finally having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Public health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a series of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation experienced approximately one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Role of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved possessed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a physical action to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired rapidly with lethal results, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced weapons had been available.

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

Legislation Under Strain

Yet, the horrific toll of the incident reveals that current firearm regulations are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding 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 multiple announcements regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will shortly introduce a suite of reforms to reduce the public danger from firearms. The national government has proposed a new gun buyback, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a state line.

Addressing Common Objections

We hear the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the firearms they used.

Weighing Necessity and Security

There are valid needs for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to ensure that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws have historically been the envy of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as past generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi attack, "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. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.