🔗 Share this article Australia's Gun Laws: An International Model That Must Endure, Particularly After Bondi Following the tragedy of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting several pressing reckonings. We are seeing a long-overdue national focus on anti-Jewish sentiment, an persistent worry about national security, and questions about how such an tragedy could happen. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Jewish Australian, the most important dialogue we are now having revolves around firearms. Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution Public health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for at least a decade. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and enacted a suite of reforms to curb gun violence nationwide. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation experienced roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. Over the following years, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the fatalities of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s. The Bondi Tragedy and the Function of Current Regulations Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with manually-operated long guns and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the subsequent shot. Although these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and less efficient than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles frequently used in overseas attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if more advanced weapons had been available. Stopping a future Bondi demands national cohesion. And unfortunately, we have already seen cracks in the facade. A System Under Strain However, the horrific consequences of the attack reveals that existing 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 before the Port Arthur massacre, with some citizens in cities owning arsenals numbering in the hundreds. The nation has grown complacent and it has cost us terribly. The Path Forward: Announced Reforms Since the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple declarations regarding strengthened gun laws. New South Wales in particular will soon enact a package of measures to mitigate the collective risk from firearms. The national government has announced a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments. These measures are only possible provided that the nation works together. As stated, when it comes to firearm laws, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a journey across a state line. Addressing Frequent Arguments We hear the inevitable argument that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is accurate in the same sense that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Yes, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to transport 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The mass slaughter seen at Bondi would be extremely difficult without guns, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the weapons they possessed. Weighing Necessity and Safety It is acknowledged there are legitimate needs for some Australians to own firearms. Farm work or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools. What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are modernized to better match the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have historically been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is no longer as safe as it previously was. It is vital to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are as protected as previous generations have been. As one friend observed after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but only because the country has made concerted efforts to maintain its security. However horrific as the incident was, there is hope that it can serve as the last one the nation ever sees.