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In the aftermath of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an persistent concern about public safety, and questions about how such an event could happen. However, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important discussion we are finally having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about firearms for at least a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and enacted a suite of measures to curb gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none reaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Existing Laws

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the alleged attackers possessed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the next round. Although these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles commonplace in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced weapons had been accessible.

Stopping a future Bondi demands unity across all states. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the horrific consequences of the attack demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities owning collections of hundreds of weapons.

We have been complacent and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Path Ahead: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous announcements regarding new firearm legislation. New South Wales in particular will soon introduce a suite of measures to reduce the public danger from firearms. The national government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible provided that the nation works together. As stated, regarding gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Addressing Frequent Arguments

There is the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to transport 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the weapons they used.

Balancing Need and Safety

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to own firearms. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in many places is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to ensure that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy 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 learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and ensure that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A commentator remarked after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts 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.