Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Dies After Being Shot (japantimes.co.jp) 364
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- one of the most consequential leaders in Japan's postwar history -- died Friday, Japanese media reported, after being shot while he was giving a stump speech in the city of Nara. From a report: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had earlier described Abe as being in a "serious condition." Abe was unconscious when he was rushed to a hospital and was bleeding from the chest. The police have arrested the man suspected of attacking Abe, who was giving a speech in front of Yamato Saidaiji Station when the incident took place at around 11:30 a.m. Campaigning had been underway for Sunday's Upper House election. Videos of the incident showed two shots being fired. Japan is known for having one of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Abe suffered an injury to the right side of his neck due to a gunshot and was bleeding internally in the left side of his chest, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. The former prime minister was transported via a medical helicopter to Nara Medical University in the city of Kashihara, south of central Nara, according to NHK, who quoted ambulance officials.
Condolences (Score:4, Interesting)
My condolences to Mr. Abe's family and friends. This is a really shocking event, gun crime is quite rare in Japan and gun ownership is strictly controlled.
I don't want to speculate too much, but the BBC is reporting that the weapon appeared to be home made. In Japan that has been a loophole for some time. People buy replica weapons, sold as collectables, and modify them (kaizo) into functional firearms. I imagine there will be moves to ban sales of those now.
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Abe seemed a grade above most politicians.
Home made weapon aside - where did the guy get the ammo?
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The BBC said it was a shotgun, so it could have just been home made shot and gunpowder I guess.
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Informative)
It sounds like it was a double-barreled "slambang" or "four winds" pipe gun, which is why he got two shots. ("Four winds" referring to the ability to pull it apart and cast the parts to the four winds while running away).
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Seems like it, there was a lot of smoke in some of the photos.
Re:Condolences (Score:4, Insightful)
https://worldpopulationreview.... [worldpopul...review.com]
(7.12-.02)/7.12*100
ans = 99.71910112359551
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Compare that to a country like Mexico that has similar restrictions on guns but with radically higher gun deaths per-capita.
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Anyways is Mexico really similar to Japan in guns per capita? No [wikipedia.org].
US: 120
Mexico: 12.9
Japan: 0.3
Of course, the cultural differences between Mexico and Japan are also overwhelming. But, you do get the occasional stabbing spree in Japan. Or in this case, somebody who planned ahead and made it happen. A reasonably sane and intelligent person who makes a concerted effort ove
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"/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country"
US: 120
The USA has 120 guns per capita? No wonder there's a problem.
(Is there even enough closet space?)
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Exactly the wrong way round. Guns are an amplifier that a) makes killing easy and b) makes killing a lot of people easy. Add easy access to the mix and the obvious results ensue. People like you will never understand that though, because you are blind to reality.
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Finland is similar; a higher gun ownership rate than most of Europe but not so much crime overall. It's unclear why the US is such an extremist outlier with gun violence; possibly US has more gun glorification.
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Well, it has something to do with the fact that somewhere along the line, children stopped being taught the value of a human life.
I think a major factor has been the breakdown of the family over here in the US.
Many of our young men are growing up without a positive male example in their lives, and
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Not to mention that hiding a bunch of loaded guns around the house vastly increases the chance that the home invader he is so scared of will find one and use it. The GP does seem to be a gun lunatic, his rant makes absolutely no sense.
Re: Condolences (Score:3)
Re: Condolences (Score:3)
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I bet you can buy drugs quite easily in your city despite it being illegal worldwide, with the constant war on drugs.
If there is a mass appeal of the thing, there will be sellers.
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"Home made weapon aside - where did the guy get the ammo?"
Just google gun-powder recipes and I don't mean the curry kind.
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Yahoo Japan is reporting that the gunman was a former member of the Maritime Self Defence Forces, the Japanese navy.
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Insightful)
That isn't limited to Abe, it's pretty much endemic to Japanese culture.
The difference between the feelings toward the second world war in Germany and Japan are striking: the former largely have generational guilt and are determined to showcase the horrors they inflicted lest they forget. The Japanese seem to take the position that there they were, minding their own business, helping little old ladies get to church, when all of a sudden some asshole came along and nuked them twice for no discernable reason.
Re: Condolences (Score:3)
Hint: most enemies would surrender after being nuked ONCE
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Informative)
I wouldn't say that Abe's position on WWII was one-sided.
He was considered far right-wing, and he was an active denier of some atrocities that Japan is well-known for, most of all: sex slaves for Japanese troops in occupied countries.
But I know that when he in 2013, after much hesitation, visited the Yasukuni Shrine -- commemorating Japan's war-dead, he was very persistent that the visit should include a prayer at the smaller Chinreisha shrine [wikipedia.org] on the precinct: which commemorates those war-dead who were not Japanese.
But he got a lot of criticism from China and Korea for that visit anyway.
And he had on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war offered public apologies and condolences on behalf of Japan to other countries in East Asia for "immeasurable suffering" caused by Japan ... except not mentioning anything specific in particular.
Re: Condolences (Score:2)
Printing money? Japan is famous for having deflation for a decade and more. Also for no one under 50 having been able to buy a home for the last 20 years, but I'm sure that's an acceptable price to pay for price stability.
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Informative)
I saw a closeup picture of the weapon. It was two pipes taped to a board, and fired a black power shell, which was apparent by the volume of smoke generated. There is literally no way to prevent the creation of something like this unless you ban pipes and fireworks.
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" There is literally no way to prevent the creation of something like this unless you ban pipes and fireworks."
Fireworks?
People make their black powder themselves, it's not rocket science.
Re:Condolences (Score:4, Informative)
In practice, you buy the powdered sulfur on amazon or anywhere. Saltpeter is usually available at grocery stores for making sausage or canning, but if not, you can buy stump remover at the hardware store (100% potassium nitrate). You either buy powdered charcoal, crush up your own charcoal, or just use powdered sugar which works almost as well.
The ratios are easy to google.
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Insightful)
I saw a closeup picture of the weapon. It was two pipes taped to a board, and fired a black power shell, which was apparent by the volume of smoke generated. There is literally no way to prevent the creation of something like this unless you ban pipes and fireworks.
Yeah, the point of gun control is to reduce the number of gun deaths, not make them impossible.
Frankly, the fact the assassin couldn't obtain a real gun and had to resort to building such a contraption seems to be quite a endorsement of the effectiveness of Japanese gun laws. It sounds like a one-shot device which had a decent probability of not working at all. It's only an unfortunate stroke of luck that he succeeded.
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Because guns like this are so very simple, there was little chance of it not working at all. And because it's so easy to hit someone with a shotgun, there was always good chance of achieving success if the gunman could get into range. This is an underappreciated fact about guns. Sure it's hard to make an effective sniper rifle, but even a submachine gun is actually kind of hilariously easy to make once you know what you're doing. You can literally use nearly all pipe parts. Short range and slow is easy and
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the point of gun control is to reduce the number of gun deaths
That makes zero sense; it is an utterly worthless goal. The goal should be to reduce the number of "violent deaths," regardless of the tool used. Or, put more directly, to make people safer overall.
-1 pedantic
You can play the same game when someone claims the point of having a gun is self defence, no again it should be to improve overall safety. Sure you can pivot to talk about safety in a wider context but it's ridiculous to counter with "That makes zero sense; it is an utterly worthless goal.".
seems to be quite a endorsement of the effectiveness of Japanese gun laws
No, it shows that restricting access to guns is not making people safer; people are just finding different tools to use.
Except that it was so difficult for this individual to acquire a firearm he literally had to make it. Yes, a dedicated assassin may follow through with that but many other people wouldn't.
And your counter poin
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"I don't want to speculate too much, but the BBC is reporting that the weapon appeared to be home made."
Just watch the pictures.
"In Japan that has been a loophole for some time. People buy replica weapons, sold as collectables, and modify them (kaizo) into functional firearms. I imagine there will be moves to ban sales of those now."
Hardly.
It was a piece of wood with 2 pieces of water-pipe duct-taped to it.
Their houses are built of wood and paper and they like their running water.
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Insightful)
If only they'd had more good guys with guns.
In Japan the bad guy had to make his shotgun in his garage before marching off to shoot Abe, in the US nutcases can go to a supermarket, stock up on semi automatic rifles and 30 round mags and go berserk in a kindergarten and the NRA will fight tooth and nail for a nutcase's right to have easy access to those guns.
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This is one of the reasons why I left the US and won't live there again. I was 10 miles from Columbine when that happened. My son will never go to a school with metal detectors and security guards, thank goodness.
The NRA are a vile cancer in American society. We've had three mass shootings in the last 20 years, the US has probably had that many (based on averages) in the last couple of days. We used to have more mass shootings last century (nothing like the US though), but those were mostly by terrorist
Re:Condolences (Score:4, Informative)
The modern NRA came about because of an internal coup. Before this, the NRA was about hobbyists and hunters and gun safety, and 100% non-partisan. One internal group was concerned about passage of gun control legislation (and remember, Reagan signed gun control bills as California governor). That group took over at a convention and NRA has been politically focused and partisan ever since, though leadership has shifted between moderate anti-gun-control factions (Charlton Heston) versus more extremist ones (LaPierre).
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What this does prove is that even in places where gun control works in aggregate, it won't stop every specific case -- and security forces need to stop acting like it will. I'd expect quite a lot more American-style "shut down the town, the President is flying in" security in the future, while they try to figure out how to prevent plumbing parts from being welded together. But this is why I've always insisted trying to stop 3D printing of guns is simply not going to work. Like a lock on a door, it might sto
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Or at least you don't be able to do so on a larger scale in any feasible manner. Because for example you might be able to protect an individual like a high position politicians by making some huge expenses for their security, but that can't be done for the general population. And then again the Japanese isn't the US. Their general mentality is a lot more collect
Re:Condolences (Score:5, Insightful)
What this does prove is that in places with gun control, only those truly dedicated to their cause of killing will get it done. And then they will get one victim. At worst a few more.
In the US a kid who's got a bad morning can pick up a gun and ammo and kill a few dozen kids.
The higher the bar to get a good weapon, the less killing. Pretty darn simple, actually.
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"in the US nutcases can go to a supermarket, stock up on semi automatic rifles"
What supermarket would this be?
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In some states, Walmart. A Walmart Superstore has an entire grocery section plus everything else -- including guns [cbsnews.com].
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Until 2015, that would have been Walmart.
Since 2015, Walmart has been gradually reducing the range of firearms they sell. They've eliminated semi-automatic rifles and handguns from their stock and sell only hunting rifles and pellet guns. The minimum age to purchase a gun was also increased to 21.
I'm not praising Walmart. This was the result of a corporation facing increasing pushback from customers who didn't want guns to be available that easily. Those customers massively outnumber the small number wh
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Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that having 0.5% the probabilities of being killed by some random guy with a gun is very real security. If anything, it is having your own gun that gives you a false sense of security. The numbers are a bit less different if you happen to be the Prime Miniter/President, but still.
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Most attacks like this in Japan involves knives, and in recent years arson. They are fairly rare though.
I wonder why he did this. Abe had his critics but it's difficult to imagine what could have driven someone to do this. Worryingly, a recent attack on a train was by a man who simply seemed to have a death wish. Another reason to get rid of the death penalty.
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We'll know more in half an hour. For now, all police are saying is that the suspect was dissatisfied. That sounds a trifle ambiguous and, in and of itself, insufficient reason even in Japan's strict honour system.
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The flaw in this argument is that many of the shooters end up dead because the cops kill them, so while the death penalty might not be on the table in practice there is a very good chance they won't survive anyway.
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a recent attack on a train was by a man who simply seemed to have a death wish. Another reason to get rid of the death penalty.
What? The death penalty doesn't keep anyone safe. That's not how anything works.
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What I mean is people with a death wish who want to become infamous in the process won't have the option to commit crimes. At least not in Japan where suicide by cop isn't a thing, because the police are not usually armed.
Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that having 0.5% the probabilities of being killed by some random guy with a gun is very real security.
This. I was having an argument with an American who was coming up with contrived scenarios which were comletely irrelevant in a world of strict gun controls.
"What if your house gets broken into?"
"I get a bat go downstairs and ask them to leave knowing the odds of them having a gun are insanely small."
Then they proceeded to tell me how they run breakin scenarios in their house involve turning over the kitchen table in front of the gun safe so they can protect themselves.
That's not security by gun. That's insanity by gun.
Tact (Score:3)
If you think there's a genuine social good to be accomplished by increasing restrictions on civilian access to firearms in the US, then I suggest considering ways in which that aim can be accomplished that while ens
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You're not going to convince civilian gun ownership advocates to disarm by saying their fears are irrational
I'm not convincing anyone of anything. I'm pointing out the insanity of the more gun = safer argument. America won't change. This guy from Illinois especially won't.
then I suggest considering ways in which that aim can be accomplished that while ensuring people are still able to defend themselves against (from your perspective) nonsensical threats to their satisfaction.
I'm Australian. I come from a country which was unsafe, a country where massacres were common (though not in US levels), a country which after enacting gun legislation when from a yearly gun death rate from about 4 / 100000 to 0.7 / 100000 and a massacre rate from 0.5-1 / year, to 0.
Removing guns was what made us self. And to my satisfaction I
So I do have an actual scenario for you (Score:2)
Now let's say we ban certain guns or all guns. Ignoring the logistical nightmare it's very likely the cops will look the other way and white folks have guns and come down on black folks like a ton of bricks. At least in large swaths of the country.
So suddenly you have a whole bunch o
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Most tables aren't bullet proof anyway. I think Mythbusters tested it, they certainly did car doors and found that they offered negligible protection too.
Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that having 0.5% the probabilities of being killed by some random guy with a gun is very real security.
This. I was having an argument with an American who was coming up with contrived scenarios which were comletely irrelevant in a world of strict gun controls.
"What if your house gets broken into?"
"I get a bat go downstairs and ask them to leave knowing the odds of them having a gun are insanely small."
Then they proceeded to tell me how they run breakin scenarios in their house involve turning over the kitchen table in front of the gun safe so they can protect themselves.
That's not security by gun. That's insanity by gun.
This, I'm a Krav Maga practitioner. I'm fairly confident that I can take on a scrote or two but why? Why would I even risk it?
If someone were to break into my house and I come downstairs to find them lifting my TV... I sure as shit am not going bust a move in my jim jams, I'm going to tell them to take the TV and get the fuck out. Two reasons:
1. They are more scared of me than I am of them (OK, I'm a Krav practitioner so I'm stupid, but in general the thieves are going to be shit scared of anything), they'll probably drop the TV and leg it.
2. The TV is fucking insured, I'm not (well I am but I still don't want to get hurt and even if you win a fight, you're still getting hurt).
OK, and 3. I don't want to be explaining things to an ambulance driver and police officer at 2 am in the freaking morning. The insurer opens at 9 and I don't even need to call to make a claim these days, I can call the cops to get a report number in the morning too.
So at worst, I'm down a TV and need a new window but I'm fine, maybe my pride is a little hurt because I could have taken them down but chose the more adult path. It's good that guns are not easy to get here in the UK because if I could get a gun easily, so could the people breaking into my house and I guarantee you at 2 AM, the person breaking in will have surprise and aggression on their side (the ol' Krav training kicking in, hit first and hit hard, but the former is more important because he who hits first usually wins). What stops surprise and aggression from becoming a fight is the fear that they have to get within my striking to me to do anything, even if they've a bat or a knife.
The thing is, in the UK, B&E, especially when you're home is such a rare thing that most of us don't even worry about what we'd do. If we're going to get burgled, it'll happen when we're not there.
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Sources for your numbers on soaring gun crime?
Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know if that has more to do with gun availability or mentality. Take a look at Switzerland, until not that long ago, there was an assault rifle in pretty much every home. By law. And the cases of gun violence in Switzerland are few and far between.
One reason may well be that these people by definition all had pretty decent training with that gun. I do think that this does make a huge difference when it comes to responsibility. I remember my gun sergeant. He was a pretty laid back guy (well, as laid back as training sergeants get...) but as soon as a gun was on the table, the nonsense, bullshit and banter that we often had was off the table. You could feel how the room temperature dropped by at least 5 degrees as soon as gun training was the topic because now shit gets real and serious. And if you clowned about with a gun, he had this doll that he would hand to you and you'll do the gun drill with the doll instead of your gun, "and you'll get your gun back when you learned that it's no toy, if you want to toy about, here's what you need".
Things like that work quite well on 18 year old guys. Especially when done out in public where everyone walks by and sees you coddling a doll that wets itself...
Maybe that wouldn't be too bad an idea for the US either. The army could offer free gun handling lessons. First it would probably improve gun safety and second it would be a great way to improve the army's image, maybe a few people would sign up as well.
Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:5, Informative)
Take a look at Switzerland, until not that long ago, there was an assault rifle in pretty much every home. By law. And the cases of gun violence in Switzerland are few and far between.
Just because Switzerland isn't as murder happy as America does not make their gun violence cases "few and far between". They are nothing of the sort and have (aside from the USA) one of the highest gun death statistics in the west. 2017 figures for gun deaths per 100,000:
Switzerland: 2.82
Germany: 1.01
Italy: 0.97
Australia: 0.7
Japan: 0.01
Switzerland's gun related deaths are insanely high compared to peers with gun controls. The USA of course a wonderful exception. Sure you would do well to not put guns in the hands of stupid people and get your numbers down to Switzerland levels, but you could also enact strong gun controls and join the rest of western civilization.
Hangon, wait, didn't Australia only introduce gun laws in the mid 90s? I wonder what their numbers were like beforehand:
1990: 3.51 (ouch, higher than Switzerland)
1991: 3.59
1992: 3.49
I think you get the picture.
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I'd love to see how many of these cases are suicides. Because, well, having a gun at hand makes offing yourself rather self-explanatory, you don't have to reach for other means.
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"Switzerland's gun related deaths are insanely high compared to peers with gun controls. "
That's because these gun-deaths are mostly suicides.
Why jump from a building, if you have an assault-gun behind the fridge.
Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:5, Informative)
> That's because these gun-deaths are mostly suicides.
Gun deaths are mostly suicides in the US too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Problem with a lot of those statistics, and Australia, if I recall correctly, what crashed was the suicide by by firearm, overall suicides didn't really change much, suggesting that ultimately all that changed was the method. So when you supply such statistics, it's misleading, because the biggest victims of "gun violence" are self caused, and a lot of turn of phrase is used to sort of hide that and suggest otherwise, that all of those people are running around trying to kill other people.
What you really
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Then I looked up Chicago. Yikes. Again limi
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Do you have stats on knife-related deaths? Honest question. Japan is big on that -- since they don't have firearms available they will use knifes. See the case of Nevada-tan for example.
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People in the US imagine that owning guns is going to give them the opportunity some day to be a super hero. Presumably because they have no real idea what it means. Places where people have used firearms in military service, they recognize that the last thing you want to do is to escalate to gun violence.
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The Swiss Argument is bollocks: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/f... [swissinfo.ch]
Re:still DEAD the PM is (Score:5, Interesting)
That was actually a question when I was applying for a gun permit (yes, we need that here where I live, you get asked a ton of questions, along with a psychological examination): What do you do when someone breaks into your house?
My blunt and direct answer? I call the police and then help him carry out what he wants to steal. The longer I can stall him, the better. And if he really gets away with the loot, more power to him. I'm insured and get new bling for the old crap he stole. Win-win.
The LAST thing when I notice a burglar is a gun. Either we're both unarmed. Then I am large, loud and very obnoxious. Or he is armed and I'm not. Ok, then take what you want and since you want my loot and not me, take what you want. And then there's the other end of the possibilities. I'm armed and he's not. Then I'm fucked. If I shoot, it's exceeding self defense because I'm shooting an unarmed person. No matter how this ends, I'm screwed. I shoot, this goes to court and I'm in trouble. Or I don't shoot, he overpowers me and takes the gun. *golfclap*
Or the worst scenario. We're both armed. Then he MUST shoot. Because he'd have to assume I would. Why the hell would I want that?
Nope. Get the police, what am I paying tax for if I don't make use of it? Have them shoot that bastard.
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" If I shoot, it's exceeding self defense because I'm shooting an unarmed person. "
That's why you always have to have a ghost-gun or a rusty knife lying around, that you never touched with your DNA.
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Shooting an unarmed person is not inherently a bad idea. I don't intend to take a beating from anyone. Ever. I'll take my chances with a jury because people get beaten to death by unarmed people every day.
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Nope. Get the police, what am I paying tax for if I don't make use of it? Have them shoot that bastard.
I don't want to be one of those woke folks, but check your reality. Not only is your opinion formed from the privilege of not having experience with police, it's just flat un-informed. A police officer will take many multiples of the time it takes for the robber to disappear. The supreme court has upheld multiple times that they have no legal duty to shoot anyone or to protect you. A casual search on google turns up dozens of cases where cops shot the homeowner in confusion.
Every other part of your post was
Re: still DEAD the PM is (Score:2)
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I have a license to carry in Texas and I'm a former police officer. That career ended decades ago when I fell down some stairs (at home, not work related) and broke my back. When I left law enforcement for work in a data center I didn't miss carrying a pistol. It was almost a relief really. Most departments in Texas require you to carry it 24/7 even off duty so you get tired of having to throw it on your belt to go out and get a gallon of milk or to run up to the gas station. Anyway I digress. I never felt
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It turns out that people with concealed carry licenses are actually better about obeying the law than law enforcement officers
The first time I was ever pulled over (it hasn't been a common occurrence, but it's happened now and again) I had two guns pointed at my face with fingers on triggers. My crime was driving at night. I hadn't even broken any laws, they just decided to pull me over for lulz. Cops have shitty muzzle and trigger discipline.
so I can only assume that most of the real imbeciles failed to get a license but it was a real eye opener for me. I'm not scared of guns but people scare the shit out of me.
No kidding. This ongoing dumbing down of the populace to make it malleable can never go anywhere positive.
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That basically never happens. Seriously.
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Are you referring to this chart?
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyl... [nbcnews.com]
If so, just a quick glance of the civil war and WW2 causalities shows this chart is deeply flawed.
It also groups all gun deaths as a whole. Almost 2/3s of gun deaths are suicides. One would assume if someone was determined to commit suicide, the lack of a gun would not prevent this.
https://www.politifact.com/fac... [politifact.com]
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still dead the PM is. Lax security because "what could go wrong?" much ? If vigilence is the price you pay for a false sense of security, count me out.
They probably should have given Abe some more bodyguards, that's true but more Americans have been killed in US domestic civilian gun violence incidents since 1968 Than in all US wars combined. You can't say the same about Japan.
That's the thing... Most developed nations are safe enough that even ex leaders can go around without a bulletproof limo or ensconced with body guards.
Hell, most current leaders can still just walk down the street in their respective nations and their worst fear is getting a McFlurry flung at them.
Shootings in Japan are incredibly rare. Often it's under 10 per year.
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If only they'd had more good guys with guns.
There would likely be more deaths. A good guy with a gun has never prevented a shooting.
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If only they'd had more good guys with guns.
There would likely be more deaths. A good guy with a gun has never prevented a shooting.
Yes, he has. Except you didn't hear about it, because, guess what, the shooting was prevented, i.e. it didn't actually happen.
Re: Condolences (Score:2)
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I heard about this good guy with a gun. The cops killed him. https://thehill.com/changing-a... [thehill.com]
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That in itself doesn't disprove the good guy with a gun theory at all though, all it accomplishes is showing that the cops aren't the good guys.
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Yep, it is easy to tell the good guys with guns from the bad guys with guns. You just have to ask them.
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Yes, they pass new gun laws as fast as SCOTUS strikes the oldest down, but NYC is the safest BIG city in the US by a wide margin, just because of that.
FTFY
Study history (Score:3, Informative)
Inejiro Asanuma was assassinated in 1960 during a TV debate by Otoya Yamaguchi....with a sword. Yasushi Nagao got the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of the attack.
Home-made weapon (Score:3)
One of the news sites is reporting it was a home-made weapon of some kind. In one of the videos you can see a very large plume of smoke directed towards Abe, reminiscent of a muzzle-loader type of slower-burning powder. More than likely it wasn't even using actual gunpowder but some kind of other incendiary (such as those easily harvested from fireworks).
Averages (Score:5, Insightful)
Something like 10 deaths by gun a year, with the lowest being 3 deaths in one year. Their population is 38% that of America despite the US being 2,502% larger. (Relevant because population density is known to be a factor in crime.)
This makes Japan insanely safe from such crime, so the argument by the BBC that this will change Japan dramatically seems overstated. Your odds of being a victim of other sorts of violent crime, due to their honour system and syndicated crime families, hasn't changed Japan noticeably. Further, he was an incredibly divisive politician in a country that honours unity above practically everything else.
If the guy killed Abe for not being right-wing enough, I expect some level of crackdown on the right, possibly by those crime gangs. There's no way that sort of attitude will be acceptable and the crime gangs are going to want to stamp out movements that threaten them or their security. If the guy was left-wing, I expect the entire nation to lurch to the right in sympathy with the victim's ideology.
Either way, it'll be a change in perspective, and thus subtle changes in society, rather than a massive change in society/politics, Japan doesn't do overt swings in nature but it'll certainly be ok with covert changes in philosophy.
Re:Averages (Score:4, Insightful)
Gosh, Japan in a year has less gun deaths than Chicago on a weekend!
Lack of figurative language interpretation (Score:2)
I guess some people doesn't understand figurative language.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
No I got it now.
The killer should have used a 3d printed ghost-gun instead of 2 pieces of water-pipe.
Re:News for nerds? (Score:5, Informative)
Stuff that matters...
This matters.
And the nerd part could get filled by the fact that the shotgun was home made.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: News for nerds? (Score:2)
No, he really didn't, not any more than Obama is responsible for McDonald's. Leaders have very little influence on that sort of thing.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, the way it was written I thought he was shot a while ago and just died now, possibly of complications from that. Weird way to phrase it...
Delay in reporting (Score:2)
There was a significant period between the shooting and his being declared dead. This resulted in a confused set of reports / statements. The mess you are complaining about is a result of that confusion.
And technically, since there was a delay between his being shot and being 'dead', the reportage is correct. But yes, in retrospect it will shown as his being assassinated.
Re: (Score:2)
Also, the headline is from a Japanese paper. Japan has its traditions of using softer, inoffensive language, as a way to be polite to strangers.
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Re:The Good Soldier vejk (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't see how this could lead to another world war, given that the former Prime Minister was assassinated by a Japanese citizen who apparently built his own shotgun.
Re: (Score:3)