Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing several pressing reckonings. We are seeing a much-needed national spotlight on anti-Jewish sentiment, an ongoing worry about public safety, and inquiries about how such an event could happen. However, as viewed of a public health expert and Jewish Australian, the paramount dialogue we are finally having centers on firearms.
A Decade of Cautions and a Successful Response
Health specialists have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians came together and implemented a suite of measures 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 vanishingly few major events, with none reaching the death toll of the shootings in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Bondi Attack and the Role of Current Laws
Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's firearm regulations were partially effective. Reports indicate the alleged attackers possessed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These weapons are limited to firing a single bullet at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the next round. While these guns are capable of being discharged quite quickly with lethal results, they remain significantly less rapid and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, self-loading rifles commonplace in international attacks. The casualty count at Bondi would've been far higher if different firearms had been available.
Preventing another Bondi requires unity across all states. And unfortunately, there are already fissures in the united front.
Legislation Under Strain
However, the terrible toll of the incident demonstrates that current gun laws are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, years have eroded their efficacy. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than prior to the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in urban areas owning arsenals numbering in the hundreds.
We have been complacent and it has cost us terribly.
The Road Forward: Proposed Reforms
In the time after the Bondi attack, there have been multiple declarations regarding new firearm legislation. The state of NSW in particular will soon introduce a package of reforms to reduce the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, notwithstanding the inherent challenges of aligning state and federal governments.
All of this are only possible if the nation acts in unison. As noted, regarding gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the very nature of the Australian system – regulations in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a state line.
Countering Frequent Objections
There is the predictable argument that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is true in the identical way that planes don't transport people, aviators do. Certainly, 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 extremely difficult without firearms, and would have been far less damaging if the accused individuals had been denied access to the weapons they used.
Balancing Need and Safety
There are legitimate needs for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is extremely difficult without them. A complete removal of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are indispensable.
The achievable goal – what we must do – is to ensure that gun laws are updated to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's laws have long been the envy of the world, but time and distance has taken a toll and the nation is less secure as it previously was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and make certain that coming Australians are equally safe as past generations have been.
A commentator remarked after the Bondi events, "things like this just don't happen here". This is true, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. However horrific as the incident was, there is hope that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.
