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Following the tragedy of the horrific incident at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. There is a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about national security, and inquiries about the way such an tragedy could happen. However, as viewed of a health professional and Australian Jew, the most important dialogue we are now having centers on firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Solution

Health specialists have been issuing warnings about firearms for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and enacted a suite of measures to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly 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 Tragedy and the Function of Current Regulations

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a one round at a time, necessitating a physical action to chamber the next round. While these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, self-loading rifles frequently used in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different weapons had been accessible.

Preventing a future Bondi requires unity across all states. Regrettably, we have already seen fissures in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

However, the horrific toll of the incident demonstrates that current firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities reportedly holding collections numbering in the hundreds.

We have been overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Road Forward: Announced Changes

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been multiple announcements regarding strengthened firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will shortly enact a suite of measures to reduce the collective risk from firearms. The national government has announced a fresh firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are only possible 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 very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a journey across a border.

Addressing Common Objections

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. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a pilot to transport 500 people internationally without the plane. The mass slaughter witnessed at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the alleged terrorists had been denied access to the weapons they possessed.

Balancing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid reasons for some Australians to possess firearms. Managing livestock or controlling vermin in many places is incredibly hard without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is not feasible, as in certain contexts they are indispensable.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to ensure that firearm legislation are modernized to accurately reflect the society we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the admiration of the world, but time and distance 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 make certain that future generations are equally safe as past generations have been.

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