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In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical conversations. There is a much-needed national focus on antisemitism, an persistent concern about national security, and questions about the way such an event could occur. But, from the perspective of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the most important dialogue we are finally having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Response

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and enacted a suite of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to ready the next round. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in overseas attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been available.

Preventing another Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already fissures in the united front.

A System Under Strain

However, the terrible consequences of the incident demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

We have been overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Ahead: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon introduce a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Countering Frequent Objections

We hear the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, aircraft require operators, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the firearms they possessed.

Balancing Need and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or culling pests 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.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to ensure that gun laws are modernized to better match the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one commentator remarked after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.