Topline
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination Friday is particularly shocking because it happened in a country with among the world’s most stringent gun controls and lowest deaths caused by guns, especially compared to the United States and other high-income countries.
A man prays at a site outside of Yamato-Saidaiji Station where Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo … [+]
Key Facts
Japan’s strict firearms regulations have kept the number of gun-related deaths incredibly low—nine firearms deaths in 2018, for example— compared to the 39,740 in the U.S. in 2018, including 24,432 by suicide and 13,958 by homicide, according to a 2020 report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.
A 2020 Small Arms Survey report from the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies in Geneva found that in 2017, there were 377,000 civilian firearms in Japan (0.3 per 100 people), above neighboring South Korea’s 79 million (0.16), and less than the United Kingdom’s 2.73 million (4.46), Russia’s 17.62 million (12.29) or 393.34 million in the U.S. (120.48).
While handguns are outlawed across the country, obtaining a shotgun or rifle requires a full-day class every three years, passing a shooting range test with at least 95% accuracy, a background check that includes interviews with family members, as well as mental health evaluations, drug tests and a report of where the guns and ammunition will be stored.
Japanese police recovered a handmade gun at the scene Friday, as well as multiple explosives and handmade firearms at the home of Yamagami Tetsuya, the 41-year-old shooter.
List
Homicide Rates In High-Income Countries
- U.S. (4.12 per 100,000)
- Chile (1.82)
- Canada (0.5)
- Portugal (0.4)
- Italy (0.35)
- Greece (0.35)
- Belgium (0.34)
- France (0.32)
- Sweden (0.25)
- Netherlands (0.23)
20. Japan (0.02)
Key Background
The U.S. trails 22 countries in homicide rate, including El Salvador (35.5), Venezuela (32.75), Guatemala (28.23), Colombia (24.8), Brazil (20.8) and Mexico (15.55), according to the Our World In Data.
Tangent
Mass shootings in the U.S. are nearing record levels, following several shootings over the past week, in Philadelphia, New York City, Kenosha, Wis. and a Chicago suburb, where a gunman opened fire on a July 4 parade, killing seven. According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, there have been 306 mass shootings with at least four injuries or deaths in the U.S. so far this year, just 21 shy of the 327 shootings in 2021. Late last month, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan gun control bill into law, paving the way for federal grants allowing states to increase background checks for gun buyers under 21, enact red-flag laws and close a loophole that allows non-spousal domestic abusers to own guns.
Furhter Reading
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Assassinated During Election Campaign Event (Forbes)
‘Shocked And Saddened’: World Leaders React To Shooting Of Shinzo Abe (Forbes)
Japan’s Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Dies After Being Shot While Campaigning (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/07/08/heres-how-japans-low-gun-death-rate-compares-to-the-us-and-other-countries/