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jimmy the one

(2,720 posts)
4. lots of shoguns in japan
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 06:16 AM
Jun 2013

No of course gun laws cannot eradicate all gun violence, absurd notion, american gun laws were only ever expected, by gun control advocates, to have a marginal benefit in reducing gun crime, like 10 to 15% reduction, that's all.
But I think the article intended, from the japanese perspective of gunbans, how does japan stack up in relative guncrime against US & other guncountries - comparatively did japan nearly 'eradicate' gun violence?

I think the article fell far short of expectations (tho it may only be intro to the video); I delved in expecting to see a statistical comparison between US & Japanese guncrime but not a stat was found (I can't get videos up with my antiquated dial up modem, surely more info in the vid). But the short article devoted near half to some gunnut richard feldman of firearm owners assoc (owns 150 guns) & his thoughts & beliefs on why guns are needed all over da places -'The problem is never the gun per se.' Entrenched in 2ndAmendment mythology is he, but why is he there?

author jake: “Gun laws in Japan are incredibly strict. It is a crime to fire a gun. It is a crime to own a bullet. It is a crime to own a bullet and a gun that match, that’s an aggravated felony that will get you life.. Every aspect of owning and using a gun, other than hunters who have gone through rigorous inspections, who are professional shooters .. You just can’t have a gun in Japan.”

Well it's not totally disallowed, perhaps some pull is needed tho:
The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in Japan is 710,000
The rate of private gun ownership in Japan is 0.61 firearms per 100 people
The number of licensed gun owners in Japan is reported to be 320,000
In Japan, the number of rifles in civilian possession is reported to be 40,539
In Japan, the number of shotguns in civilian possession is reported to be 325,136
There are reportedly 776 handguns in civilian possession in Japan
In a comparison of the rate of private gun ownership in 178 countries, Japan ranked at No. 164
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/japan

So we see Japan is a shogun land, er, shotgun land I meant to say, freudian...
Jake wrote of basically hunters allowed guns, so I surmise mostly bird/fowl hunting.

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