The nation's Firearm Laws: A Global Example That Needs to Persist, Particularly After Bondi

Following the tragedy of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national spotlight on antisemitism, an persistent concern about public safety, and inquiries about how such an event could occur. But, from the perspective of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are finally having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Warnings and a Successful Response

Public health specialists have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a decade. In the wake of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and implemented a series of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly 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

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the next round. Although these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles commonplace in international mass shootings. The number of deaths at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been available.

Stopping another Bondi demands national cohesion. Regrettably, we have already seen cracks in the united front.

Legislation Under Strain

Yet, the horrific consequences of the incident reveals that existing firearm regulations are failing. Crafted in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are now more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas owning arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Road Forward: Announced Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding new gun laws. The state of NSW in particular will soon enact a package of reforms to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The federal government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, when it comes to gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Countering Frequent Arguments

There is the inevitable argument that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had not had access to the firearms they possessed.

Balancing Need and Security

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to own firearms. Managing livestock or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of firearms from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to guarantee that gun laws are updated to better match the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but the passage of years has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is critical to take the lessons of Bondi to heart, and ensure that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been.

As one commentator observed after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the final tragedy the nation experiences.