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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical reckonings. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an ongoing worry about national security, and inquiries about the way such an tragedy could occur. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are finally having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Health specialists have been sounding alarms about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and enacted a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. 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, requiring a manual operation to ready the next round. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different firearms had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi demands unity across all states. Regrettably, there are already fissures in the facade.

Legislation Showing Weakness

However, the horrific toll of the incident demonstrates that existing gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Path Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW specifically will shortly introduce a suite of measures to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of aligning state and federal governments.

These measures 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 reality of the Australian federation – laws in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Addressing Common Arguments

We hear the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter seen 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 firearms they used.

Balancing Necessity and Safety

There are legitimate reasons for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or culling pests in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to ensure that gun laws are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically 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 once was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

As one friend observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has collectively worked to maintain its security. As nightmarish as the incident was, there is hope that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.