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In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several critical conversations. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an ongoing concern about national security, and questions about the way such an tragedy could occur. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are finally having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Public health experts have been sounding alarms about firearms for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a series of measures to curb gun violence nationwide. The strategy succeeded. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting 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 tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired rapidly with lethal results, they remain far slower and less efficient than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if different weapons had been available.

Stopping another Bondi demands national cohesion. Regrettably, there are already fissures in the united front.

Legislation Showing Weakness

Yet, the horrific toll of the attack reveals that current firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have worn away their efficacy. Concerningly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

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

The Road Ahead: Proposed Changes

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been numerous declarations regarding new firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will soon enact a suite of reforms to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has announced a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a national firearms registry, despite the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.

These measures are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding firearm laws, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the reality of the Australian federation – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Addressing Common Arguments

There is the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, individuals are". This is accurate in the identical way that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to transport 500 people overseas without the aircraft. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the weapons they possessed.

Balancing Need and Safety

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to own guns. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of guns from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the society we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it once was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and ensure that coming Australians are as protected as past generations have been.

A commentator observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the final tragedy the nation ever sees.