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In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about national security, and questions about how such an event could happen. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Response

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a series of measures to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a one round at a time, necessitating a physical action to chamber the next round. While these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced firearms had been available.

Preventing a future Bondi requires unity across all states. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the horrific toll of the incident demonstrates that current firearm regulations are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their effectiveness. 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 arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

We have been overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Path Ahead: Proposed Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous declarations regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW specifically will shortly enact a package of reforms to reduce the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.

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

Addressing Common Arguments

There is the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is accurate in the identical way that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Weighing Need and Safety

There are valid needs for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or controlling vermin in many places is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and ensure that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A commentator observed after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but solely due to the fact that 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 experiences.