Why Japanese Gun Control Works And Why It Probably Won't For America

john.smith said:

People just don't need gun when they don't feel threathened, which is the case on Japan.

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Now you are claiming guns are needed only for self defence which is a very limited view for this whole thing. I grew up in an environment where basically every family had a gun or two or several. They were kept out of the sight of kids and used for hunting and different sports. I never shot one, was just not interested. Only when I was around 20 I became interested in hunting and then sports shooting. Over the years I bought more than a dozen guns which is not an uncommon number for anyone involved in serious sports or hunting. Regardless of the big number of guns in the country there are basically no murders by guns nor any random shootings.

I never were thinking about using a gun for self defence as I never felt threatened. Still I needed guns for having a more fun and fulfilling life. If guns were allowed in Japan I bet you many people would want one. The interest is huge and this is proven by the huge number of shooting ranges and guided tours in many of the vacation spots catering to Japanese people.

i am Japanese and chiese half, i am study at the Japanese school , i thinK that a big wall with my classmates,then we are play baseball together later, we re Good friends together, it good for us take communication,i thinK you,my brother, maybe do some sports together

MikeH said:

The interest is huge and this is proven by the huge number of shooting ranges and guided tours in many of the vacation spots catering to Japanese people.

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I think that is not a very solid argument. I'm pretty sure curiosity plays a big role. Then it's also part of many group / guided tours.
There will probably be some interest, but I don't think those holiday activities are a good proof. A lot of people do bungee jumping exactly once

Patrolling police officers in quite a few European countries don't carry firearms whereas a Japanese police officer is usually armed with a .38 revolver. An irony is that many of the incidents involve the Japanese police and guns are officers' committing suicides with their officially-supplied guns...suicide prevention may be another reason why Japan needs the strict gun control.

Ken1988 said:

... suicide prevention may be another reason why Japan needs the strict gun control.

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Totally, this is dead on.

Here's an interesting statistic from the CDC in the US:

Total homocides by firearm in 2013: 11,208

Total suicides by firearm in 2013: 21,175

Even in the US it's a huge issue...

zer0ed said:

http://www.guncite.com/journals/dkjgc.html

Very insightful article for those of you interested in the second amendment debate. I'm Canadian so I only have the pleasure of viewing it across the non-walled (yet) border. I think it makes some pretty solid points and analysis.

"Guns are the price of freedom" I read from somewhere, and it sums everything up pretty nicely.


So if you want safety over freedom, Japan is the place to be.

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As others have mentioned, the article was very good at explaining the history and cultural differences as well as being a bit dated on some current things. I've saved the link to pass on to some folks.

User#8628 said:

I don't know why mass shootings are such an enjoyable sight to watch for you.
I'm fine with people who enjoy guns for sport or even recreational hunting but if people can't easily buy them and if police does their job instead of killing innocent people, there is no reason you need to carry a gun around all the time to defend yourself.

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Who ever said mass shootings were enjoyable to watch?

And as for the rest of the quoted text, while you may think "there is no reason" for one, its not entirely a matter of reason but of rights as @Wwanderer pointed out above. Also I rather doubt you've ever lived in a really shitty area where crime was a problem beyond police ability to manage. You are young enough that you probably believe the current media hype about police violence, but in most places and over most times, police officers arent/havent been that way and sometimes still have to deal with criminals who are far better armed than the officers themselves and under no legal compunctions as to discharging weapons. I've had the unfortunate "pleasure" of living in some pretty shitty places where the local PD was underfunded and understaffed compared to the crime problem. My perspective may differ as a result of that experience.

zer0ed said:

I think you nailed it on America's problem: their police are doing a dismal job of protecting civilians and the people have lost confidence in them. Hence people feel they need to protect themselves.

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Historically and present day completely off the mark.

zer0ed said:

Speaking of freedom, does anyone here have or heard of any unfortunate encounters with the Japanese legal system where you wished you were in America?

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Yep. Every damn time I get stopped, carded and searched. I've lost count of how many times its happened over the two decades I've been here. Doesn't matter if I'm wearing a suit or "street clothes" because I'm already guilty of being non-Japanese.

User#16452 said:

It is worth considering that the American "right to bare arms" was written with very different guns and different social circumstances than we have in the present day. I can't help but wonder of such a "right" would pass today.

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Doesn't matter. See also @Wwanderer above regarding the particular place the 2nd amendment exists in the US Constitution. Note also that while the US Constitution has been amended a fair number of times, it is still the longest lasting of any national constitution. The fact that the firearm technology of today is different than the technology of the late 1700s really has nothing to do with it. In fact, some of the founding fathers of the nation were still alive by the time the Gattling Gun was invented in 1862.

Ken1988 said:

Patrolling police officers in quite a few European countries don't carry firearms whereas a Japanese police officer is usually armed with a .38 revolver.

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Only Norway and UK came to my mind, you have more examples? In Japan they started to carry only after the Aum Shinrikyo thing.

zer0ed said:

but by far the only.

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I think you forgot a word

TheScientist said:

I think you forgot a word

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Two words I believe, "not" and "one".

-Ww

zer0ed said:

I'm gonna go hide in shame for a bit.

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Let he/she who has never posted a typo cast the first stome!

-Ww

MikeH said:

Only Norway and UK came to my mind, you have more examples?

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Ireland, Iceland, Malta, Gibraltar and the Crown Dependencies...yeah, you are right. I did a bit of cheat to make it "quite" a few. I count a place like Guernsey a country.

zer0ed said:

I forgot to add to my original reply for the tldr:

America lacks the social cohesion of Japanese culture in order for their type of control to work. America is all about individual rights versus the collective harmony in Japan.

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Actually I consider Japan more individualist than America.
A Japanese not earning money will first blame himself. An american will blame society and consider subsidy as a right.

MikeH said:

Now you are claiming guns are needed only for self defence which is a very limited view for this whole thing. I grew up in an environment where basically every family had a gun or two or several. They were kept out of the sight of kids and used for hunting and different sports. I never shot one, was just not interested. Only when I was around 20 I became interested in hunting and then sports shooting. Over the years I bought more than a dozen guns which is not an uncommon number for anyone involved in serious sports or hunting. Regardless of the big number of guns in the country there are basically no murders by guns nor any random shootings.

I never were thinking about using a gun for self defence as I never felt threatened. Still I needed guns for having a more fun and fulfilling life. If guns were allowed in Japan I bet you many people would want one. The interest is huge and this is proven by the huge number of shooting ranges and guided tours in many of the vacation spots catering to Japanese people.

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Indeed, I was not thinking about the usage of gun for fun, only for self defense. I thought the gun control only concern self defense, I'm surprised you can't own a hunting rifle in Japan.

john.smith said:

I'm surprised you can't own a hunting rifle in Japan.

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You can own shotguns and rifles for hunting but it is made very very difficult. You first need to get a hunting license, then you need to get a license for a shotgun and then owning that for a decade you can try to get license for a rifle.

So you pass all the tests and get a hunting license. Then you need medical tests and will have to take both written and practical tests with the police for the shotgun license. Then the police will interview your family, neighbours as well as people at your work. And even if you pass all of this they can just decline your shotgun license without giving any reasons. Then you wait a couple of years and try again.

The few people who I know hunt in Japan all have similar backgrounds; they are from an old family from country side, own large areas of land and are really wealthy.

User#8628 said:

I'm from Europe from a country where a lot more things are legal in America and which people in Japan call "freedom country" and no guns there.
I don't know why mass shootings are such an enjoyable sight to watch for you.
I'm fine with people who enjoy guns for sport or even recreational hunting but if people can't easily buy them and if police does their job instead of killing innocent people, there is no reason you need to carry a gun around all the time to defend yourself.

To me freedom also means being if a save environment where nobody would kill or rape me. You can't do what you want if there is the chance that people will push a gun under your nose for it.

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I agree.

I don't have a problem with the right to carry guns, but do have a problem with the American system. Gun safety training and background checks (crazy, drugs, or criminal) before getting a gun license looks to be a lot smarter. Gun stores that sell guns illegally should be closed down and prosecuted. Wrongfully or criminally using a gun should be severely punished versus bizarre state laws where if a person perceives themselves possibly threatened, they can kill at will like drunk cowboys in a Western movie.

And somehow it appears lost on various Americans that you can't have any weapon. There are restrictions. Can you buy a jet fighter, tanks, and grenade launchers? All the guns in America have not made it more safe, but instead among the most dangerous places in the world short of 3rd world war zones.

Lastly, poor people without jobs and food to eat will more likely turn to crime. That's human nature. So fixing that problem will do more to decrease the need for guns, than simply dumping more guns out on the streets.

Solong said:

Gun stores that sell guns illegally should be closed down and prosecuted.

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In the now rare case that this happened the BATF brings down the pain hard. Always.

Solong said:

Wrongfully or criminally using a gun should be severely punished versus bizarre state laws where if a person perceives themselves possibly threatened, they can kill at will like drunk cowboys in a Western movie.

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First you conflate two different things here: separation of powers and relatively rare "stand your ground" laws at the state level. Then comes the hyperbole.

Solong said:

Can you buy a jet fighter, tanks, and grenade launchers?

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Reducto ad absurdum.

Solong said:

Can you buy a jet fighter, tanks, and grenade launchers?

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Actually... you can. My buddy in Georgia has a fully functional M4 Sherman tank, and several RPG systems. You could buy a fighter jet if you had the funds, as well. You see plenty of them at air shows.

Prohibition of guns because some crazy people can kill, is like prohibition of sex because some crazy people can rape... both rules are useless and impact innocent people who likes gun/sex.

Any store that openly sell guns to the public has to be licensed buy the ATF. If you buy a firearm over the Internet it has to be sent to a licensed dealer where the background check will be preformed. Even gunshows do background checks.

I have a carry concealed permit for my state. Do I carry all the time no. Certain occasions I do tho. Where I live we don't have local police and the nearest state police building is 40 minutes from my house. I have to have some way to defend myself.

Guns are a hobby of mine, I know the ins and outs better than most. Im even in the process of getting my first silencer.

zer0ed said:

Good for you man, I'm so jealous. Here in Canada suppressors are outright prohibited because it's supposedly the tool of "professional killers". (Scoff)

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I have a friend in London ON, he comes down a couple times a year. And guess what he wants to do every time. I jealous of you guys and your SVT40 imports. Haven't been able to import then in to the US since 1996.