if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803
Herro Mista Bang Bang!
by Lee
Japan has some of the most draconian gun control laws anywhere.
Gun control in Japan is the most stringent in the democratic world. The weapons law begins by stating ‘No-one shall possess a fire-arm or fire-arms or a sword or swords’, and very few exceptions are allowed. Gun ownership is minuscule, and so is gun crime.
In the wake of yesterday’s Virginia shootings, there will be calls for America to implement draconian gun control measures in this country, so that gun crime like this will never happen.
Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito was shot twice ... The alleged shooter, Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder after being subdued by staff members of Ito’s office when he tried to run away, the police said. The suspect is an acting leader of the Suishin-kai gang group affiliated with Japan’s largest organized crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.
Shiroo admitted to shooting the mayor and said he had trouble with the city office over public works biddings, the police said, adding they seized a revolver.
‘’I fired several shots for the purpose of killing Mayor Ito,’’ the suspect was quoted as telling the police.
Gee, in a country with no gun culture and the most severe gun control laws in the world, criminals are still able to get guns. Astonishing, isn’t it? It’s almost like, ultimately, gun control doesn’t work. Unless you’re a criminal.
Comments
Stogy did it with Hazehead’s 10mm.
Japan also has a suicide rate far in excess of the USA. Somehow, even without ready access to guns, they manage to kill themselves.
Which is, of course, impossible, because we all know that suicides are caused by access to guns and that guns, JUST BY BEING PRESENT, make people want to kill themselves.
wasnt another Hiroshima mayor shot a few years back?
because we all know that suicides are caused by access to guns and that guns, JUST BY BEING PRESENT, make people want to kill themselves.
If that was true, then my home town would have been “eradicated” decades ago..
because we all know that suicides are caused by access to guns and that guns, JUST BY BEING PRESENT, make people want to kill themselves.
Maybe we should ban wives and mother-in-laws because sometimes they make me want to open a friggin’ vein.
mother-in-laws because sometimes they make me want to open a friggin’ vein.
I see you’ve met my mother-in-law, satan.....
Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder after being subdued by staff members of Ito’s office when he tried to run away, the police said.
notice this.... 2 peopel with no weapons took it on them selves to disarm the man, in VT 25 people stood in line and waited to die.....
that says a whole lot about attitude .
Posted by Seattle Outcast on 04/17/07 at 04:54 PM from United States
mother-in-laws because sometimes they make me want to open a friggin’ vein.
I see you’ve met my mother-in-law, satan.....
LOL
I love my mother in law...she’s great woman,and if i was 20 years older....
You’d still want to put rat poison in her dinner?
Mine is a real nut job - in the clinical sense. She easily qualifies as an aggressive sociopath, and I truly think that her problems go much further than that. Needless to say, after her actions of two years ago (long story - involves money and real estate) she is no longer welcome in my home and my wife essentially treats her as if she died at that time.
Okay, hold on a second.
They mayor is assassinated by a gang member, and so it’s clear that gun control doesn’t work?
In the US, there are 14.24 deaths per 100,000 people due to guns. In Japan it’s 0.05 per 100,000.
So… what’s that about the laws not working?
Let’s be careful about comparing Japan to the US on this issue. They are an island culture of largely one ethnicity. They have a different mindset about a lot of things. The differences in business are vast. It only stands to reason that gun control would work differently there than it would elsewhere.
Wasn’t there a news story a few months ago about Army Rangers smuggling in fully auto AK-47s back from Afghanistan and selling them around? Even if we could get rid of all the guns in the U.S., we’d still have to worry about the people we’d be trusting to keep us safe from wanting to make a few bucks on the side.
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Mike - I think the point is that even with draconian gun laws, it’s still possible to get a gun.
Posted by Mike Borrelli on 04/17/07 at 05:03 PM from United States
Okay, hold on a second.
They mayor is assassinated by a gang member, and so it’s clear that gun control doesn’t work?In the US, there are 14.24 deaths per 100,000 people due to guns. In Japan it’s 0.05 per 100,000.
So… what’s that about the laws not working?
the LAWS DID NOT STOP teh bad guy from getting a gun and using it..
id say it was a failure,
Posted by CinaJ on 04/17/07 at 05:13 PM from United States
Wasn’t there a news story a few months ago about Army Rangers smuggling in fully auto AK-47s back from Afghanistan and selling them around? Even if we could get rid of all the guns in the U.S., we’d still have to worry about the people we’d be trusting to keep us safe from wanting to make a few bucks on the side.
Or those wonderfully nice Mexican drug runners…
Yo Essey, yo gata AK-47’s?
the LAWS DID NOT STOP teh bad guy from getting a gun and using it..
id say it was a failure,
Wait, because the law didn’t prevent 100% of the problems it’s a failure? I’d say it’s working fairly well FOR JAPAN!
I think we’re falling into the trap of comparing apples to oranges. Japan has much more of a collectivist mentality than the US. The question is more about why gun control doesn’t work in the US, not why it does work in Japan.
Let’s be careful about comparing Japan to the US on this issue. They are an island culture of largely one ethnicity. They have a different mindset about a lot of things. The differences in business are vast. It only stands to reason that gun control would work differently there than it would elsewhere.
It’s apples and oranges. The US could outlaw firearm possession in all forms by Constitutional Ammendment, and very few would willingly give them up. It would require jackboot search and seizure of every home in the country to retreive even half the firearms in this country.
What works one place does not necessarily work in another.
Japan has much more of a collectivist mentality than the US.
Oh man, that’s so hilariously true.
I’ve been working here for half a year and already it’s getting to me. As jingoistic as people think Americans are, Japanese people are way worse in a lot of ways. It’s like they’re all one big team, or something.
Gun violence is lower in Japan than America, sure, but it’s really more because of the culture than the laws. Even if guns were legal the rate of violence would be much lower because of how conformist and dutiful the people’s mentality is. Everyday I see huge crowds of Japanese people waiting to cross totally empty streets because the light says “do not walk”. This isn’t to say that they don’t have crime and other problems. I’ve been late for work twice because of suicides on the subways, and the mafia control half of Tokyo.
It was kind of surreal to watch the switch in attitude once the mayor got shot. All day Japanese news had been covering the Virginia thing, with commentaries about gun laws and such. The Japanese folks in my guesthouse were a bit smug about it. Then all of a sudden someone gets shot and they just got really quiet.
Maybe we should ban wives and mother-in-laws because sometimes they make me want to open a friggin’ vein.
As do husbands.
That should be ”mothers-in-law”. And they’re not so bad....at least not since I became one.....
Everyday I see huge crowds of Japanese people waiting to cross totally empty streets because the light says “do not walk”.
I noticed that too… I was in Kanazawa last year and felt like a barbarian for crossing the street while everyone else stood about waiting.
Obviously this violence was inspired by the atomic bombing of that city. It’s America’s fault. It always is.
Japan has much more of a collectivist mentality than the US.
Oh man, that’s so hilariously true.
add to that the fact that their society is just a few decades out from being a feudal society too.
That should be ”mothers-in-law”.
Got it. I’m not really serious about that, BTW.
The US could outlaw firearm possession in all forms by Constitutional Ammendment, and very few would willingly give them up. It would require jackboot search and seizure of every home in the country to retreive even half the firearms in this country.
Now there’s a bloodbath in the making. I predict that there will be a whole lot of dead people the very first day when they decide upon that course of action.
Everyday I see huge crowds of Japanese people waiting to cross totally empty streets because the light says “do not walk”.
We read that as “run like hell”. Just like a yellow light.
Now there’s a bloodbath in the making. I predict that there will be a whole lot of dead people the very first day when they decide upon that course of action.
That’s my point. We wouldn’t tolerate it. Banning guns in this country is like banning french fries.
Now there’s a bloodbath in the making. I predict that there will be a whole lot of dead people the very first day when they decide upon that course of action.
that is a understatement.
Not only that, but just after the news here in Tokyo reported the Nagasaki shooting, they did in depth piece on the VT massacre. And I kid you not, they showed a full minute of Bowling for Columbine.
Gee, in a country with no gun culture and the most severe gun control laws in the world, criminals are still able to get guns. Astonishing, isn’t it? It’s almost like, ultimately, gun control doesn’t work. Unless you’re a criminal.
Hmm...from someone in a country with 30 times the murder rate that’s some claim. And no, John Lott didn’t prove that concealed gun ownership makes people safer and reduces gun crime either.
Yes - things are really different here. People don’t want a gun culture. A large proportion of the murders here are gang on gang violence, with the odd sicko putting his/her oar in every now and again.
But why, oh why shouldn’t the people of Japan live in a country largely free of guns if they so choose to do so? Most people here are completely horrified at even the thought of gun ownership.
Yeah because even a single murder means gun control is a failure. Under this logic we shouldn’t encourage condoms because .02% will break.
As long as you find that one exception, it must invalidate the rule. It’s the easiest way to argue when you make a decision and work backwards to the justification. It’s also makes up about 90% of all dittohead arguments.
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I guess he just had to scratch that Itcho…
Pardon my ignorance, but as someone who has lived in China, perhaps you, Lee, can explain this to me-I thought Asian crime syndicates didn’t like to air their dirty laundry in public?