Is this the liberal dream?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_re_as/japan_gun_control

Japan already bans almost all privately owned firearms, with only strictly licensed and registered rifles and shotguns allowed for the privileged few who can afford them. Yet here they are tightening down the controls again because (SURPRISE!!!) criminals used illegally gotten guns to kill a notable person.

Geez, I think that tired old canard about "only criminals will have guns" is quite apropos for this situation. Am I correct?

I think you can attribute Japan's lower crime rates to several factors other than guns. One is the intrusive and onerous legal and judicial system they have where privacy rights compared to the USA are nil. Another is the simple fact that their population in nearly devoid of ethnic and racial disparity. Both of those factors lead to much higher crime rates in the USA.

Add to that the spectactularly higher suicide rate in Japan than in the USA, even without the presence of guns.

Answer 1

It is sad when you think about the very few who ruin it for the great many. Guns can at times be a wonderful crime deterrent when used judiciously.
I wonder if had there been just one or two people with concealed firearms what would have happened at VA Tech? The shooter had used an "illegally" purchased firearm for his lethal assault; so what good are laws that keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens and into the hands of criminals who use them to kill the innocent (and unarmed!).
Later days.

Answer 2

On the contrary, from your own cited article:

"Despite the laws, high-profile gunbattles between gangsters have increased. Of the 53 shootings reported in 2006, two-thirds — 36 — were blamed on organized crime groups, the National Police Agency says."

Um, do the math. 53 shootings? I don't have time to extrapolate to a per capita # vs. US, but trust me, the shooting rate is MUCH MUCH MUCH lower in Japan.

So what does that tell us about Japan's spectacular gun control success???

Answer 3

I wish we had Japans crime rate, it is one of the lowest in the world.
And, in Japan they tend to catch criminals and put them in jail.

Low crime rate and high conviction rate - that does sound like a dream !

Answer 4

It is so true and a fact.
The media does not report the number of law abiding people with legal gun that stop crime.