With the growing violence in Brazil, the use of firearms generate discussions on social networks. Many want Brazil to do like the US and facilitate access to firearms for the population. In this article, we'll take a look at Japan, and prove that through its history and culture, owning a firearm may and may not be necessary.
Each country has its own situations and circumstances that determine how weapons should or should not be used and distributed. In Japan itself, firearms played a very important role in its history and culture. In this article we want to address several topics such as:
I am totally against any use of firearms, but if I have to choose between innocent people dying more than criminals because of disarmament, I prefer armed people killing the bad guys. First, we must consider whether this is necessarily the best step to end Brazil's insecurity.
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How many people die from firearms in Japan and around the world?
In Brazil, firearm-related deaths exceed 50,000 every year, while in the United States of America the number is usually in the range of 30,000. What about Japan? Practically the number of firearm deaths per year in Japan does not usually exceed even 10 people.
About 90% of the American population is armed, while 8.8% of the Brazilian population is armed, while in Japan not all police officers are armed. Even so, firearms account for more than 70% of homicides in Brazil, while in the United States this number is 5x greater and a good share comes from suicides.
In the last 30 years, deaths caused by firearms in Brazil rose by 346.5%, while the rates in several countries have been decreasing every year. Even neighboring countries and the famous Mexico, have lower statistics than Brazil, even having almost twice as many firearms and drug trafficking.
Countries such as Korea and Singapore prohibit it and have a low rate of gun deaths. Iceland has one of the lowest numbers of gun deaths even with 30% of the population armed. It is evident that firearms do not make much difference in the indices of different countries. It all depends on how the country works, its culture and its laws.
Is it very difficult to get a gun in Japan?
When we talk about gun ownership, people believe that having guns is totally prohibited in Brazil and Japan. The great truth is that anyone can carry a firearm within the law in both countries, but there are thousands of strict rules and a very expensive cost for all this.
There have been several recent changes that have made gun ownership even more restrictive in Japan, because there were times when Japanese could have weapons that even Americans were not allowed to have. Nowadays even to use an air rifle in Japan, you need a license.
In Japan a person has to take several shooting classes, pass a written test, take psychological and drug tests in a hospital and do a gigantic check on their life and criminal record. In your home, weapons should be kept in a safe place, separate from ammunition. After all you will be allowed a shotgun or air rifle to hunt.
Even with a gun license in Japan, you need to report to the police every time you go hunting and how many bullets you are going to use. After the hunt you need to report the destination of each bullet, how many shots were fired, how many hit their targets and where the misses went. Every year you will be inspected by the police.
Illegal weapons also circulate in Japan as in any country among criminals. Fortunately they are rarely used for assaults or robberies thanks to heavy Japanese laws. The illegal importation of weapons is also very rare, some criminals' weapons are simple war trophies.
The History of Guns in Japan and How They Were Banned
Japan has spent much of its history in civil wars. In the year 1500 the Dutch brought a weapon called the matchlock that played a big part in the wars during the Sengoku period. In the meantime Japan has become the world's largest and highest quality weapons manufacturer.
Weapons allowed the use of peasants in battle, as they did not require as much training and experience as swords and bows. The weapons helped Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu to unify Japan. Thus came the Tokugawa Shogunate which was considered one of the longest periods of peace in Japanese history.
It was Toyotomi Hideyoshi who forbade peasants from owning weapons to prevent riots. Firearms in Japan and their manufacture were completely banned along with swords shortly after their unification. Gun ownership in general was severely restricted and even the samurai class was turned into bureaucrats.
After World War II, firearms lost their popularity even more with the end of the gigantic Japanese army. THE Yakuza and Japanese criminals have incredibly decreased each year, especially the use of guns by the mafiosi, bringing even more peace to Japan and its population.
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How do the Japanese view firearms?
Most Japanese have never seen a gun in their lives, let alone fired one. Most of the time, only high-level police officers, criminals, hunters and the military can experience the use of a firearm. This makes the desire to own a firearm unlikely for a Japanese.
The reality of the Japanese makes them think that if a country like the US gives up its weapons, violence will simply disappear. Japan doesn't even entertain the idea of an armed robbery or carjacking.
In countries like the USA and Brazil, firearms seem to make more sense, unlike Japan, which for many seems like a fantasy world, but which really doesn't need to worry about violence and weapons.
Not only the Japanese but some other developed nations view American firearms culture in a very negative light. In most countries where firearms are legal, their common use is for hunting and not defending (not least because there is no need).
The only hobby involving guns that is popular in Japan besides video games is airsoft. In Japan you can find an infinite variety of airsoft guns, even airsoft anime and manga have been released in recent years.
Not even hunting animals is that popular in Japan, most of those who own a gun in Japan to hunt do it for work and not for sport. Only high-class people with international connections often use hunting as a hobby.
How can Japan be safe without firearms?
Several aspects of Japanese culture make Japan a place free of guns and violence. Rigidity in laws, education and society makes the Japanese have harmony without thinking or trying to do evil. This rigid culture and social pressure has its consequences, but it is a key factor in the country's security.
It would probably take me years to try to explain the cultural differences between Japanese and Brazilians and how this drastically affects the security of each country. Some use the excuse that Brazil is big and full of borders, while Japan is just an island, but this idea is not correct if we analyze the data from neighboring countries.
Differences between countries are cultural rather than geographic. It is enough for Brazil to apply strict laws and invest in education to drastically end these frightening statistics of crimes and deaths by firearms in the country. If the mass of the population had a little more interest in others and in knowledge, many of these things would be avoided.
In fact, in the current scenario in the country, I only see negative things happening with the release of weapons without strict control and without change in criminal laws and punishments. Not to mention that culturally Brazilians are not prepared to own weapons. Not even all police officers show competence in using them.
I'm not against the release of weapons, I just don't think it's a good idea to release weapons without changing the flawed law we have in Brazil. With this article I just want to show that it is not weapons that make the country safe, but the law and education.
I think that the only and best solution for Brazil is to do as was done in Singapore, to eliminate all evil in the bud. Changes are possible, as both Japan and Singapore were violent countries and became peaceful countries. Is that you? What do you think? Hope you enjoyed the article, we appreciate the shares and would love to hear your comments.
