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Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing reckonings. There is a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an persistent worry about national security, and questions about the way such an tragedy could happen. However, as viewed of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

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 implemented a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired rapidly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been available.

Preventing a future Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen cracks in the facade.

A System Under Strain

However, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that current firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas owning arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Path Forward: Proposed Changes

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding strengthened firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will shortly introduce a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The national government has announced a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are only possible if the nation works together. As stated, when it comes to gun control, the country is dependent on 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.

Countering Common Objections

There is the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had been denied access to the weapons they possessed.

Balancing Necessity and Safety

There are legitimate reasons for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is incredibly hard without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

A friend remarked after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies 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 attack was, there is hope that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.