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Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. There is a much-needed national focus on antisemitism, an persistent concern about national security, and questions about how such an tragedy could occur. However, as viewed of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Health experts have been sounding alarms about firearms for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a series of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none reaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the next round. Although these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been accessible.

Preventing a future Bondi requires unity across all states. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

Yet, the horrific consequences of the attack reveals that current gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have eroded their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Ahead: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a suite of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Addressing Frequent Arguments

We hear the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the identical way 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 internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be extremely difficult 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

It is acknowledged there are legitimate needs for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to ensure that gun laws are updated to better match the world 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 previously was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that future generations are as protected as previous generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the attack was, there is hope that it can become the last one the nation experiences.