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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical conversations. There is a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Proven Solution

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and implemented a series of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. 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 major events, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Role of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in overseas attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi demands unity across all states. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

A System Under Strain

Yet, the terrible consequences of the incident reveals that existing firearm regulations are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities owning collections of hundreds of weapons.

The nation has grown overconfident and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous announcements regarding new firearm legislation. New South Wales in particular will shortly introduce a suite of measures to mitigate the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible if the nation works together. As stated, regarding firearm laws, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a journey across a border.

Addressing Frequent Objections

We hear the predictable response that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people overseas without the plane. The horrific violence witnessed 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 weapons they used.

Weighing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as past generations have been.

As one commentator remarked 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 made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation experiences.