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In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple critical conversations. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about national security, and inquiries about the way such an event could occur. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important discussion we are finally having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced roughly one mass shooting 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 Tragedy and the Role of Current Laws

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 bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the next round. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different firearms had been available.

Preventing a future Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already fissures in the united front.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the terrible toll of the incident demonstrates that existing gun laws are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

The nation has grown complacent and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened firearm legislation. The state of NSW specifically will shortly enact a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the complexities of aligning state and federal governments.

All of this are only possible provided that the nation works together. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a state line.

Countering Common Objections

We hear the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the firearms they possessed.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

It is acknowledged there are legitimate reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A friend remarked after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the incident was, there is hope that it can become the final tragedy the nation experiences.