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Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about national security, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the most important discussion we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health specialists have been sounding alarms about firearms for a minimum of a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and implemented a suite of measures to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Role of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi events, 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 weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in overseas attacks. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been accessible.

Stopping another Bondi demands unity across all states. Regrettably, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the horrific consequences of the incident demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Forward: Announced Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW specifically will soon introduce a suite of measures to reduce the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has announced a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to firearm laws, 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 avoided with a short drive across a border.

Countering Frequent Objections

There is the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the identical way that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Certainly, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the firearms they used.

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 complete removal of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are updated to better match the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

As one friend remarked after the Bondi events, "things like this 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 serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.