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In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical conversations. There is a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. However, as viewed of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are finally having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a series of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced roughly one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none approaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Role of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired rapidly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in overseas attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been available.

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

A System Under Strain

However, the horrific toll of the incident reveals that existing gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Ahead: Proposed Reforms

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a suite of measures to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

These measures are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a short drive across a state line.

Countering Frequent Arguments

We hear the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had been denied access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are legitimate reasons for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or culling pests in many places is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the envy of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe 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.

As one commentator remarked after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.