A Land Without Guns: How Japan Has Virtually Eliminated Shooting Deaths. ⇒
17 December 2012, early morning
To get a gun in Japan, first, you have to attend an all-day class and pass a written test, which are held only once per month. You also must take and pass a shooting range class. Then, head over to a hospital for a mental test and drug test (Japan is unusual in that potential gun owners must affirmatively prove their mental fitness), which you’ll file with the police. Finally, pass a rigorous background check for any criminal record or association with criminal or extremist groups, and you will be the proud new owner of your shotgun or air rifle. Just don’t forget to provide police with documentation on the specific location of the gun in your home, as well as the ammo, both of which must be locked and stored separately. And remember to have the police inspect the gun once per year and to re-take the class and exam every three years.
If you are buying something that only exists to shoot and kill other people it really should be that difficult.
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
not that I disagree with the general point of the article, but I think a direct comparison between absolute number of firearms deaths in the US vs Japan is a little skewed. Should it at least be corrected for population?
by Weiguo on December 17 2012, 7:07 pm #
While, they are several orders of magnitude different, so adjusting by population doesn’t change the result
12K deaths / 312M people = 1 firearm homicide per 26,000 people.
11 deaths / 128M people = 1 firearm homicide per 11,600,00
So if the US rate was the same as Japan’s that would be 26 murders instead of 12,000.
There are clearly social issues as well as gun availability (e.g. Switzerland), but something seems out of proportion when obtaining a gun is simpler to do and has less oversight than flying on a commercial airplane.
by Ryan on December 17 2012, 7:23 pm #
An interesting article – it’s illegal to sue gun companies (and most regulation is illegal too) so they have no incentive to consider the broader consequences – Sue the Gun Makers, and the Sellers, Too
by Ryan on December 19 2012, 10:29 pm #