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Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting multiple pressing conversations. We are seeing a much-needed national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about national security, and questions about how such an event could occur. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the most important dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Response

Health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for at least a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Before 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Role of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi tragedy, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if different firearms had been available.

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

A System Showing Weakness

However, the terrible toll of the attack demonstrates that current gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

The nation has grown overconfident and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Forward: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding strengthened firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon introduce a package of reforms to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a national firearms registry, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible if the nation works together. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a journey across a state line.

Countering Common Arguments

We hear the inevitable response that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that aircraft do not fly passengers, pilots do. Yes, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the plane. The horrific violence seen 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 Need and Safety

It is acknowledged there are legitimate needs for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal 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 ensure that gun laws are updated to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically 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 previously was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, 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". This is true, but solely due to the fact that the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is an aspiration that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.