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In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing conversations. There is a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about national security, and questions about the way such an event could occur. However, as viewed of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the most important dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and enacted a series of measures to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. 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 reaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the next round. While these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in overseas attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced weapons had been accessible.

Preventing another Bondi requires national cohesion. Regrettably, we have already seen cracks in the facade.

A System Under Strain

However, the horrific consequences of the attack reveals that existing firearm regulations are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Ahead: Announced Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW specifically will soon introduce a suite of reforms to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has announced a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – laws in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a short drive across a state line.

Countering Frequent Objections

We hear the inevitable response that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the plane. The horrific violence witnessed 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.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in many places is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of guns from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to ensure that firearm legislation are updated to better match the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as past generations have been.

As one commentator remarked after the Bondi events, "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 last one the nation ever sees.