🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing reckonings. There is a much-needed national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent concern about public safety, and inquiries about the way such an tragedy could happen. However, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are finally having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a suite of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Role of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. Reports indicate the individuals involved 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 chamber the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been available.

Stopping another Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already fissures in the facade.

A System Showing Weakness

However, the horrific toll of the attack demonstrates that current gun laws are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in cities owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

We have been overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Forward: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. New South Wales in particular will soon introduce a suite of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are only possible provided that the nation works together. As noted, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. 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.

Countering Frequent Objections

There is the inevitable response that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is accurate in the identical way that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the firearms they used.

Weighing Need and Safety

It is acknowledged there are valid reasons for some Australians to possess guns. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are indispensable.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically 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 critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are as protected as previous generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can become the last one the nation experiences.