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In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple critical reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on antisemitism, an persistent worry about national security, and questions about how such an event could occur. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the most important discussion we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Proven Solution

Health specialists have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms 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 incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Existing Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi requires national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already cracks in the facade.

A System Under Strain

Yet, the horrific consequences of the attack reveals that existing firearm regulations are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have eroded their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

We have been complacent and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Ahead: Proposed Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding new gun laws. New South Wales specifically will shortly introduce a package of reforms to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The national government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.

All of this are feasible if the nation works together. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the reality of the Australian system – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a journey across a border.

Countering Common Arguments

There is the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". 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 quite challenging for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the firearms they used.

Weighing Need and Safety

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

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are updated to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws 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 critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and ensure that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation experiences.