🔗 Share this article

Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an persistent worry about public safety, and questions about the way such an event could occur. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Cautions and a Successful Response

Public health experts have been issuing warnings about firearms for at least a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a suite of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Role of Current Laws

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were partially effective. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round 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 significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been accessible.

Stopping a future Bondi demands unity across all states. And unfortunately, we have already seen cracks in the united front.

A System Showing Weakness

Yet, the terrible consequences of the incident reveals that existing gun laws are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have worn away their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

We have been complacent and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Path Forward: Proposed Changes

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding new firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will soon enact a suite of reforms to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The national government has announced a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.

All of this are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be bypassed with a journey across a border.

Addressing Common Objections

We hear 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, aircraft require operators, but it would be virtually impossible for a pilot to move 500 people internationally without the plane. The horrific violence seen at Bondi would be extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they used.

Balancing Need and Safety

There are valid reasons for some Australians to own firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is incredibly hard without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are indispensable.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that gun laws are modernized to better match the society we live in today. Australia's laws 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 to heart, and make certain that future generations are as protected as past 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. However horrific as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation experiences.