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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple critical conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about public safety, and questions about how such an tragedy could occur. However, as viewed of a health professional and Australian Jew, the most important dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Proven Response

Public health experts have been sounding alarms about firearms for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and implemented a suite of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Existing Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. 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 single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the next round. Although these guns can be fired rapidly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced weapons had been accessible.

Stopping another Bondi requires national cohesion. Regrettably, we have already seen fissures in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible toll of the attack reveals that existing gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in cities owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

The nation has grown overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Forward: Announced Reforms

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a package of measures to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has announced a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

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 reality of the Australian system – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a journey across a border.

Countering Common Objections

There is the inevitable argument that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to transport 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Weighing Necessity and Security

There are valid needs for some Australians to own guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in many places is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one 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. However horrific as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation experiences.