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Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. There is a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent concern about public safety, and questions about how such an event could happen. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important discussion we are finally having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings 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 united and implemented a suite of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation experienced approximately 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 shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Bondi Attack and the Role of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in overseas mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced weapons had been available.

Stopping another Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

A System Under Strain

Yet, the horrific toll of the incident reveals that existing firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities owning collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Forward: Announced Reforms

Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been numerous announcements regarding new gun laws. New South Wales in particular will soon enact a suite of measures to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The national government has announced a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the complexities of coordinating state and federal governments.

All of this are feasible provided that 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 – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a short drive across a state line.

Addressing Common Arguments

We hear the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the identical way that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people overseas without the plane. The mass slaughter 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.

Balancing Need and Safety

It is acknowledged there are valid needs for some Australians to own guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of guns from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but the passage of years has done its work and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that future generations are as protected as past generations have been.

As one friend remarked after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". This is true, but only because 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.