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In the aftermath of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about how such an tragedy could occur. However, as viewed of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Proven Solution

Health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation experienced approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Role of Current Regulations

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been available.

Preventing another Bondi demands national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already fissures in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that current gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have eroded their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in cities reportedly holding arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

We have been complacent and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Path Ahead: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. New South Wales specifically will soon enact a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Addressing Frequent Objections

There is the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had been denied access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's laws have historically 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 seriously, and ensure that future generations are as protected as past generations have been.

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