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Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple critical conversations. There is a much-needed national spotlight on antisemitism, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about how such an event could happen. However, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are finally having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Proven Response

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about guns for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a series of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none reaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a physical action to ready the next round. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome 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 firearms had been accessible.

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

A System Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible toll of the incident reveals that current firearm regulations 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 before the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in urban areas reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

We have been complacent and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Ahead: Announced Reforms

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding new gun laws. New South Wales in particular will soon introduce a suite of reforms to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the complexities of aligning state and federal governments.

All of this are only possible provided that the nation works together. As noted, when it comes to firearm laws, 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.

Addressing Common Arguments

There is the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the firearms they used.

Balancing Necessity and Safety

There are legitimate reasons for some Australians to own guns. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are essential tools.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to ensure that firearm legislation are updated to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and ensure that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

A friend observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation ever sees.