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In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing reckonings. There is a much-needed national focus on antisemitism, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Response

Health experts have been sounding alarms about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and enacted a series of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none approaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Role of Existing Regulations

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired rapidly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced firearms had been accessible.

Preventing a future Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that existing gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas owning arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Forward: Announced Reforms

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will shortly enact a package of reforms to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The national government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding firearm laws, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a journey across a border.

Addressing Common Arguments

There is the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the firearms they possessed.

Balancing Need and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to guarantee that gun laws are updated to better match the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A commentator remarked after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has collectively worked to maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.