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In the aftermath of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing reckonings. There is a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about public safety, and questions about how such an tragedy could happen. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important discussion we are finally having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Successful Response

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and implemented a series of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation experienced approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Role of Current Regulations

Amidst 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 can only fire a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the next round. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced firearms had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi demands national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already fissures in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the terrible consequences of the attack reveals that existing gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities reportedly holding arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

We have been overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Path Ahead: Announced Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding new firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will soon introduce a suite of reforms to mitigate the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to gun control, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Addressing Common Arguments

We hear the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people internationally without the plane. 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 been denied access to the firearms they used.

Balancing Need and Safety

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to own guns. Managing livestock or culling pests in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that gun laws are updated to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and ensure that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A commentator observed after the Bondi events, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation experiences.