🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about public safety, and questions about the way such an tragedy could occur. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a series of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none approaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Function of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms 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 devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in international mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been accessible.

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

A System Under Strain

Yet, the terrible toll of the attack demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their efficacy. Concerningly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some citizens in cities owning arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Road Ahead: Proposed Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. New South Wales specifically will shortly enact a suite of reforms to reduce the collective risk posed by firearms. The national government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As stated, regarding 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 easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a state line.

Countering Frequent Objections

There is the predictable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is accurate 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 internationally without the aircraft. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the alleged terrorists had been denied access to the firearms they possessed.

Weighing Need and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or controlling vermin in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that coming Australians are as protected as past generations have been.

A friend remarked after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. However horrific as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation experiences.