Australia's Firearm Laws: An International Model That Needs to Endure, Especially After Bondi

Following the tragedy of the awful attack at Bondi, Australia is facing multiple critical reckonings. There is a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an ongoing worry about public safety, and inquiries about the way such an event could occur. But, as viewed of a public health expert and Australian Jew, the paramount discussion we are now having revolves around firearms.

A Decade of Cautions and a Proven Solution

Health experts have been issuing warnings about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, Australians united and enacted a series of measures to reduce gun violence across the country. The strategy succeeded. Before 1996, the nation witnessed approximately one mass shooting per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare significant tragedies, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Role of Existing Laws

Even during the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. Reports indicate the individuals involved might have been armed with bolt-action rifles and a straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to ready the subsequent shot. While these guns can be fired rapidly with devastating effect, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the large-magazine, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in international attacks. The number of deaths at Bondi could have been much greater if different firearms had been available.

Stopping a future Bondi requires unity across all states. And unfortunately, there are already cracks in the facade.

Legislation Under Strain

Yet, the horrific consequences of the attack demonstrates that existing firearm regulations are failing. Designed in the late 1990s with the best of intentions, decades have eroded their effectiveness. Concerningly, there are now a greater number of guns in Australia than before the Port Arthur shooting, with some individuals in urban areas reportedly holding arsenals of hundreds of weapons.

The nation has grown overconfident and it has cost us terribly.

The Path Ahead: Proposed Reforms

In the time after the Bondi tragedy, there have been multiple announcements regarding strengthened gun laws. New South Wales in particular will shortly introduce a package of measures to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The federal government has proposed a new firearm surrender scheme, and there is potential for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

These measures are feasible if the nation works together. As noted, when it comes to gun control, the country is only as strong as its least stringent jurisdiction. This is the very nature of the Australian federation – laws in one state are much less meaningful if they can be avoided with a short drive across a border.

Countering Common Arguments

We hear the inevitable response that "firearms are not the killers, people kill people". This is true in the same sense that planes don't transport people, pilots do. Certainly, aircraft require operators, but it would be quite challenging for a captain to move 500 people overseas 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 possessed.

Balancing Necessity and Security

It is acknowledged there are valid reasons for some Australians to possess firearms. Farm work or culling pests in many places is extremely difficult without them. A total ban of guns from the country is not feasible, as in some cases they are essential tools.

What we can do – what we must do – is to guarantee that firearm legislation are updated to better match the society 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 no longer as safe as it once was. It is critical to learn from the tragedy of Bondi seriously, and ensure that future generations are as protected as past generations have been.

As one commentator observed after the Bondi attack, "such tragedies just don't happen here". They don't, 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 serve as the last one the nation experiences.