You don't have to halt science to decide that the benefits of gain-of-function research is not worth the risk. We don't test nuclear weapons anymore either.
Because "we" arrived at a point where they are, arguably, good enough. Not to mention that "others" still do test them. See north korea for example.
Our knowledge of pathogens is not good enough. See the current pandemic. The question is whether the net benefit of this sort of research, once the risk are properly accounted for, is larger than the benefit we could get with alternative research methods.
The fact that someone else is taking huge risks of unleashing another pandemic is not a good reason for us to do so.