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In the aftermath of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple critical reckonings. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent worry about national security, and questions about how such an event could occur. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for at least a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation witnessed 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 incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a one round at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired rapidly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been accessible.

Preventing another Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen cracks in the united front.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the horrific toll of the incident demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are now more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Road Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will shortly introduce a package of reforms to mitigate the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a new gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As stated, regarding gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a state line.

Countering Common Arguments

There is the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Balancing Need and Security

There are valid needs for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to ensure that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi events, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.