Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns From: [v--n] at [netcom.com] (Victor Tan) Subject: Japanese and Guns and Crime Date: Sun, 27 Nov 1994 23:09:06 GMT Here's an article for all to read: Japan sees its safety slip away Mob-related shootings are now common in the once-tranquil nation TOKYO - Japan has long prided itself on being the safest place in the industrial world. But lately it looks more like mob-run Chicago of the 1920s than its idyllic self-image as a gun-free island of tranquility in a violent world. The evening news regularly features reports on shoothings, usually by mobsters settling scores in business relationships gone sour. Gunshots rang out Wednesday in the southern city of Shingu that were aimed at the homes of the mayor; deputy mayor and the president of a consturction company, police said. Bullet holes were found in the homes of Mayor Teruhiko Iura, 70, Deputy Mayor Hitoshi Tominaga, 63, and the Futita-gumi construction company chief Hideo Fujita, 47. No one was hurt. Police said the shootings probably were related to a dispute over a city construction project. "Our town, which used to be a calm, family-oriented town, has become the latest venue for shootings by gangsters," a woman told Japanese television. "What will happen to Japan in the coming year or two? I'm quite worried about the unwelcome criminal trend that is no longer distant from us." In nearby Kitakyushu and Fukuoka, 18 underworld-related shootings occured in the last three months alone. Throughout Japan, police reported 174 shootins this year; 24 of them involving fatalities. "Japan has taken pride in the belief that it is the safest country among the advanced nations. But lately there has been growing concern that Japan might soon become like Italy because of the growning number of attacks against corporate executives by crime syndicates," the Daily Yomuri newspaper said in a recent commentary. Compared with Washington, D.C., which recently was the murder capital of the United States, Japan, a nation of 120 million, is still pretty safe. The 1992 shooting death of Japanese exchange student Yoshihiro Hattori in Louisiana sparked a national outcry in Japan against gun violence in the United States. Now Japan has a handgun problem of its own. The killing of a doctor byt a disgruntled patient at a crowded Tokyo subway station last month underscored the ease with which individuals can purchase guns. The assailant, a 36-year-old man with a history of mental problems, purchased the Russian Tokarev pistol used for the killing from a gangster. He paid just under $1,500. More than one third of 10.000 guns confiscated by police from January through September were from people without links to the underworld, according to police statistics. "What worries me is that civilians, and not just gangsters, get pistols with much less money than before and begin to shoot people they don't like," said Teruo Muta, a retired official from the government's Public Security Investigative Agency. "The reason why shooting incidents these days grow in Japan can be attributed to the increase in illegally imported handguns from China, Russia and the United States," he said. Nevertheless, most gun violence involves Japan's underworld, known as Yakuza. In September, an executive of Sumitomo Bank, one of Japan's largest, was killed with a single bullet through the head in front of his apartment in Nagoya. A year earlier, an executive of a smaller bank in the area also was shot dead. Last month, Osaka-based gangsters were charged with the February 1994 slaying of Fuji Photo Film Co. Managing Director Juntaro Suzuki. Mr Suzuki was killed on a sidewalk in front of his Tokyo home by men wielding samurai swords. His job involved dealing with groups known as Sokaiya, which buy small amounts of company stock and then extort money from the companies by threatening to disrupt annual meetings. by Willis Witter Washington Times 11/20/94 ------------------------end of article--------------------------------- Comments: One more time: when you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. Do you still not get it? Japan has some of the most stringent import and smuggling controls in the world. The Yakuza is the Japanese organized crime system. Penetration by authorities is difficult and they are extremely successful from a financial point of view. They are responsible for the illegal imports. I'm tempted to ask some Japanese, "Why do you need a samurai sword?" Apparently, the late Mr Suzuki was not killed with a gun of any sort. Would anyone care to surmise the number of confiscated guns that were illegally smuggled/possessed? I wouldn't be surprised if 99% of the guns used for crime were illegally smuggled and sold in the first place. There you have it. 120 million defenseless Japanese at the mercy of organized crime. I wonder how many of the victims had a chance to dial the equivalent of 911 and what the response time was. - V.T.