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In the aftermath of the horrific attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing conversations. There is a much-needed national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing concern about public safety, and inquiries about the way such an tragedy could happen. But, as viewed of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Proven Solution

Public health experts have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians united and implemented a suite of reforms to curb gun violence across the country. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced approximately one mass shooting per year. Over the following years, there have been vanishingly few significant tragedies, with none reaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Attack and the Role of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi tragedy, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the alleged attackers might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, necessitating a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. Although these guns can be fired quite quickly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, 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 a future Bondi requires national cohesion. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

Yet, the terrible toll of the incident demonstrates that current firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, years have worn away their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in urban areas reportedly holding collections of hundreds of weapons.

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

The Path Ahead: Announced Changes

In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. The state of NSW specifically will shortly enact a package of measures to mitigate the public danger from firearms. The national government has proposed a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the complexities of aligning state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding firearm laws, the country is dependent on its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Addressing Frequent Objections

There is the predictable response that "guns don't kill people, individuals are". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people internationally without the plane. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Weighing Necessity and Security

There are valid needs for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in many places is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of firearms from the country is impractical, as in certain contexts they are essential tools.

What we can do – the imperative action – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the envy of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is no longer as safe as it previously was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi to heart, and make certain that future generations are equally safe as past generations have been.

As one friend observed after the Bondi events, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. However horrific as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.