🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about public safety, and inquiries about how such an tragedy could happen. But, as viewed of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are finally having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and implemented a suite of measures to reduce gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Function of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. Although these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced firearms had been available.

Stopping another Bondi requires national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already cracks in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the horrific toll of the incident reveals that current gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities owning arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Path Forward: Proposed Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will soon introduce a suite of reforms to reduce the public danger from firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible if 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 much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a journey across a border.

Countering Common Arguments

We hear 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. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to move 500 people overseas without the plane. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the firearms they possessed.

Weighing Need and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – 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 no longer as safe as it once was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one commentator remarked after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation experiences.