Ten people today were massacred by a mass shooter at a Tops Markets Grocery Store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, New York. The 18-year-old white male gunman livestreamed onto a social media platform his hate crime killing of black people. He surrendered and was taken into custody at the scene of the crime. Most everybody in America is fed up with this repeated mass shooting gun violence. High-capacity magazines of the firearms used by mass shooters enable them to massacre multiple people within a matter of seconds. Perhaps most of us can agree to effectively ban the private ownership of high-capacity magazines used in the firearms of mass shooters,
I cannot see how that would be possible in a gun culture such as this, but in my opinion we should have gun laws like Japan.
Compare/contrast gun laws in Japan to the United States.
Japan has almost completely eliminated gun deaths — here's how
- Japan is a country of more than 127 million people, but it rarely sees more than 10 gun deaths a year.
- Culture is one reason for the low rate, but gun control is a major one, too.
- Japan has a long list of tests that applicants must pass before gaining access to a small pool of guns.
Japan has almost completely eliminated gun deaths — here's how
The weapons law of
Japan begins by stating "No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords", and very few exceptions are allowed. Citizens are permitted to possess firearms for hunting and sport shooting, but only after submitting to a lengthy licensing procedure.
Overview of gun laws by nation - Wikipedia
“The only guns that Japanese citizens can legally buy and use are shotguns and air rifles, and it’s not easy to do. The process is detailed in David Kopel’s
landmark study on Japanese gun control, published in the 1993
Asia Pacific Law Review, still cited as current. (Kopel, no left-wing loony, is a member of the National Rifle Association and once
wrote in
National Review that looser gun control laws could have stopped Adolf Hitler.)
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.
Even the most basic framework of Japan’s approach to gun ownership is almost the polar opposite of America’s. U.S. gun law begins with the second amendment's affirmation of the “right of the people to keep and bear arms” and narrows it down from there. Japanese law, however, starts with the
1958 act stating that “No person shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords,” later adding a few exceptions. In other words, American law is designed to enshrine access to guns, while Japan starts with the premise of forbidding it.”
From: A Land Without Guns: How Japan Has Virtually Eliminated Shooting Deaths
This policy is very similar to the Laws of the Baha’i Faith:
173. It hath been forbidden you to carry arms unless essential # 159
Bahá’u’lláh confirms an injunction contained in the Bayán which makes it unlawful to carry arms, unless it is necessary to do so. With regard to circumstances under which the bearing of arms might be “essential” for an individual, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gives permission to a believer for self-protection in a dangerous environment. Shoghi Effendi in a letter written on his behalf has also indicated that, in an emergency, when there is no legal force at hand to appeal to, a Bahá’í is justified in defending his life. There are a number of other situations in which weapons are needed and can be legitimately used; for instance, in countries where people hunt for their food and clothing, and in such sports as archery, marksmanship, and fencing.
The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 240-241
