The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent shockwaves in Japan and across the world. Abe was shot dead on Friday in Nara in western Japan while giving an election campaign speech. 

The incident has raised questions in everyone’s mind as Japan has one of the world’s lowest rates of gun crime because of its strict laws on gun ownership. It is suspected that the assailant used a self-made weapon.

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How to obtain a gun in Japan:

Under Japan’s firearms laws, other than the police and military nobody can possess lethal arms. Civilians cannot buy a handgun or a rifle, only air guns are allowed that too for a specific purpose. 

To obtain a gun a person must attend an all-day class, achieve 95% accuracy at a shooting test and clear a written test. They should also go through a mental health assessment at a hospital, as well as a rigorous background check, including a review of their criminal record, personal debt, involvement in organized crime, and relationships with family and friends.

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Only after all clearances, a gun license can be given and it is valid only for three years. Gun owners must retake the class and sit in an exam to renew their license. In Japan, an individual has to go through 13 layers to get a gun license making it the country that needs the highest number of clearances. In comparison getting a gun license is easiest in USA and Yemen.

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After buying a gun, the owner must register their weapon with the police and submit details of where their gun and ammunition are stored, in separate, locked compartments. The gun should be inspected by the police once a year.

In 2017, approximately 377,000 guns were owned by civilians in Japan, a country of 125 million people. That was 0.25 guns per 100 people, compared to around 120 guns per 100 people in the US, according to the Small Arms Survey, a project of Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

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Japan has a low crime rate and incidents involving guns are rare. Theft cases account for a chunk of the crime in the country. In 2018, Japan reported only nine deaths from firearms, compared with 39,740 deaths that year in the US, according to data compiled by the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.

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In Japan, keeping a gun as part of an organized crime syndicate and lead to 15 years of imprisonment, and possessing more than one gun is also a crime, which carries a prison term of up to 15 years. Meanwhile, firing a gun in a public space can lead to a life sentence.