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In the aftermath of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical reckonings. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent worry about national security, and questions about how such an event could happen. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Response

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and enacted a suite of measures to curb gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced 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.

The Bondi Attack and the Role of Existing Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with manually-operated long guns 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 are capable of being discharged quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been available.

Stopping another Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible consequences of the incident reveals that current gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are now more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities reportedly holding arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

We have been complacent and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Ahead: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. New South Wales in particular will soon introduce a package of measures to mitigate the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible if the nation works together. As stated, regarding firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the reality of the Australian federation – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a journey across a border.

Addressing Frequent Arguments

There is the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Certainly, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Need and Safety

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or controlling vermin in many places is incredibly hard without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are updated to better match the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one friend observed 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. As nightmarish as the incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.