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Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple critical conversations. There is a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about public safety, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. But, from the perspective of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the most important dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Health experts have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a suite of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the next round. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in international mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi requires unity across all states. Regrettably, we have already seen cracks in the united front.

A System Under Strain

Yet, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that current gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Ahead: Proposed Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous announcements regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW specifically will soon introduce a suite of reforms to reduce the public danger from firearms. The national government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible provided that the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature 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.

Addressing Common Objections

We hear the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the firearms they used.

Weighing Need and Security

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

What we can do – what we must do – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the envy of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as past generations have been.

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