🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing reckonings. There is a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about national security, and questions about the way such an tragedy could occur. However, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Proven Solution

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and implemented a suite of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Role of Current Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, necessitating a physical action to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles frequently used in international mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different firearms had been accessible.

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

A System Showing Weakness

However, the horrific toll of the attack reveals that current firearm regulations are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in urban areas owning collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Road Ahead: Announced Reforms

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will soon introduce a suite of measures to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has proposed a new gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a border.

Countering Common Arguments

There is the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had been denied access to the firearms they possessed.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to own firearms. 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 certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that gun laws are updated to better match the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that future generations are equally safe as past generations have been.

As one commentator 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 collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.