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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting several pressing reckonings. There is a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about public safety, and questions about the way such an event could occur. But, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Proven Solution

Health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and enacted a series of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one large-scale firearm incident 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 Regulations

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the next round. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas attacks. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced firearms had been accessible.

Preventing a future Bondi demands national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already cracks in the united front.

A System Showing Weakness

However, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that current gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas reportedly holding arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Ahead: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous declarations regarding new gun laws. New South Wales specifically will soon introduce a suite of measures to reduce the public danger from firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible 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 system – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a border.

Countering Frequent Arguments

We hear the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, aircraft require operators, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to move 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Need and Security

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to own guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect 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 less secure as it once was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and ensure that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has collectively worked to maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation experiences.