🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent worry about public safety, and questions about how such an event could happen. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount discussion we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Health specialists have been sounding alarms about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and implemented a suite of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none approaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Tragedy and the Role of Current Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been available.

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

Legislation Under Strain

However, the horrific consequences of the attack demonstrates that current gun laws are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

We have been overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Path Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous announcements regarding new gun laws. New South Wales in particular will shortly enact a suite of reforms to mitigate the collective risk posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a journey across a state line.

Countering Common Arguments

We hear the predictable response that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is true in the identical way that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they used.

Weighing Need and Security

There are valid needs for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of guns from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to ensure that firearm legislation are updated to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance 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 previous generations have been.

As one commentator observed after the Bondi events, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation experiences.