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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical reckonings. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about national security, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could happen. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount discussion we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Proven Response

Health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and implemented a series of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Role of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the next round. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and less efficient than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles commonplace in overseas attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been available.

Preventing a future Bondi requires unity across all states. Regrettably, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

A System Under Strain

Yet, the horrific toll of the attack demonstrates that existing gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas reportedly holding arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Forward: Proposed Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The national government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a journey across a state line.

Countering Common Arguments

We hear the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence 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 weapons they possessed.

Weighing Need and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid reasons for some Australians to own guns. Farm work or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's laws have historically been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and ensure that future generations are as protected as past generations have been.

As one friend remarked after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.