🔗 Share this article

In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about the way such an event could happen. However, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the most important dialogue we are finally having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and implemented a series of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none approaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Function of Current Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved possessed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been accessible.

Stopping a future Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible consequences of the incident reveals that existing gun laws are inadequate. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have worn away their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in urban areas owning collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Forward: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW specifically will soon introduce a package of reforms to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The national government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, regarding gun control, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian federation – laws in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Countering Common Objections

We hear the predictable argument that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had not had access to the firearms they possessed.

Balancing Need and Safety

It is acknowledged there are legitimate needs for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or culling pests in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the world 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 previously was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

As one friend observed after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.