Japan's strict gun laws make shootings rare
The heinous crime previous Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has surprised Japan, which has one of the world's lowest rates of gun crime due to tight gun ownership rules.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Abe was shot dead while making a campaign address in Nara on Friday.
In Japan, gun violence is exceedingly infrequent.
According to data published by the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Japan, a country of 125 million people, recorded nine firearm fatalities in 2018, compared to 39,740 in the United States same year.
The shooting, according to Nancy Snow, Japan director of the International Security Industrial Council, will affect Japan forever.
"It's not just unusual, but it's culturally incomprehensible," she told CNN. "The Japanese cannot comprehend a gun culture like the one we have in the United States. This is a silent moment. I'm completely at a lost for words."
According to the police, the suspect in Friday's shooting is a local guy in his 40s who used a homemade pistol, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Shotguns and air rifles are the only weapons licensed for sale in Japan; handguns are prohibited. However, obtaining them is a lengthy and involved procedure that demands both effort and patience.
Potential purchasers must attend an all-day class, pass a written test, and a shooting-range test with an accuracy of at least 95% to qualify for a weapon license. They must also submit to a mental health examination, drug tests, and a thorough background investigation, which includes a study of their criminal past, personal debt, involvement in organized crime, and ties with family and friends.
After purchasing a gun, the owner must register it with the police and submit information on where the gun and ammo are kept, in separate, secured compartments. The police must check the gun once a year, and gun owners must retake the training and pass a test every three years to renew their license.
Because of the limitations, the number of private gun owners in Japan is exceptionally low.
In 2017, residents in Japan had an estimated 377,000 weapons in a country of 125 million people. According to the Small Arms Survey, a project of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, that was 0.25 firearms per 100 people, compared to around 120 guns per 100 persons in the United States.
The last known public shooting of a politician in Japan occurred in 2007, when Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Ito was shot at least twice in the back at close range by an accused mobster. He died as a result of a heart arrest.
Since then, Japan has tightened its gun regulations even more, implementing harsher penalties for firearms violations committed by members of organized crime organizations.
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