🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical conversations. There is a much-needed national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent worry about national security, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could occur. But, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the most important discussion we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Proven Response

Public health specialists have been sounding alarms about firearms for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a suite of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation experienced approximately one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none approaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Role of Current Regulations

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the next round. Although these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in international mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced weapons had been available.

Stopping another Bondi demands unity across all states. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the facade.

A System Showing Weakness

However, the terrible toll of the incident demonstrates that current gun laws are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

The nation has grown complacent and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Ahead: Proposed Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been multiple announcements regarding strengthened firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will shortly enact a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a border.

Countering Common Objections

There is the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is true in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had been denied access to the weapons they possessed.

Balancing Need and Safety

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to own guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the envy of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

A commentator observed after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation experiences.