Fayetteville, AR – -(AmmoLand.com)- On Thursday (18 July 2019), an arsonist attacked Kyoto Animation (KyoAni) anime studio in Kyoto, Japan. The suspect is reported to have poured gasoline around the first floor of the three-floor studio before setting it alight, killing thirty-three and injuring thirty-five others at the time of this writing.
According to the police, the suspect claimed as he was being arrested that the studio had plagiarized his work, though law enforcement has not had time to investigate the suspect’s motives. KyoAni is noted as being a standout in the industry for treating employees well and is known among fans of anime for the K-On! series, among others.
Japan consistently shows up in discussions of guns and homicide rates among developed nations. Always cited by gun control advocates as an ideal, a society that makes private legal possession of firearms all but impossible, and it is true to say that their rate of intentional homicides has been consistently lower than that of the United States for over a century, especially in recent years. The Japanese rate of gun crimes is also far below ours.
There are a variety of reasons—cultural and historical—for this that are beyond the scope of this article. My purpose here is to consider the specific category of mass homicides, a type of violence that is properly included under the general heading of terrorism if we do not insist on limiting the latter to violence committed for exclusively political effect. An attack on a workplace, whether for revenge or because the attacker is deranged, is terrifying, regardless of any political implications.
The Global Terrorism Index measures the “lives lost, injuries, property damage, and the psychological aftereffects” in calculating a score between zero and ten. Japan’s is about half ours. While gun crimes of any type are rare in Japan, stabbing attacks—including multiple fatalities are common. Despite the belief among gun control advocates that being stabbed is somehow safer than being shot—an attack with a truck on a shopping center, and the Aum Shinrikyo attacks with sarin gas are now joined by this arson attack, Each illustrating what we in the gun community have been saying for a long time: If someone has decided to kill a lot of people at once, the means available to him are many.
Fortunately, most people are not seeking to do this, and such mass killings are rare. If you don’t live in several countries in Africa or southern Asia, you are unlikely to be involved in a terrorist incident. And while mass shootings seize the headlines, they remain a small part of homicides, with or without firearms.
This is not to say that we should treat mass killings as if they do not matter. The fact that some people are willing to murder others is a lingering darkness in human nature, and killing people in groups is on the outer extreme of that territory. Addressing this requires greater work in mental health services, intelligent law enforcement that treats threats of violence and the commission of domestic violence seriously, and a dialing down of the notion that violence is a desirable route to fame or political fortune.
But what does not make sense is disarming the law-abiding as a response to terrorism.
About Greg Camp
Greg Camp has taught English composition and literature since 1998 and is the author of six books, including a western, The Willing Spirit, and Each One, Teach One, with Ranjit Singh on gun politics in America. His books can be found on Amazon. He tweets @gregcampnc.
The anti gun establishment also uses suicides in their arguments…suicides are far higher in Japan..suicides have gotten so bad that the government is now making the familys pay for the cleanup
The “polite” and obedient ways of the Japanese are traditions that have been planted and cultivated in their mind for the past 1000 years. This is their upbringing. They have been taught from birth to respect the “emperor”, or in modern times, the government. Free will is as foreign to them as we are. Everything revolves around the family and the company you work for. That is why there are a lot of suicides in Japan because they can’t “get out” of the family system of obedience. In general, with the exception of the wealthiest class, Japanese are completely submissive… Read more »
What the…..? Wacky conspiracy theories don’t help the pro-2A fight. Neither does citing a two year old story from a satire site.
@MikeRoss
Yes, @USA is known for that here. He’s a coward though, in addition to being a lunatic and habitual liar. He is very much like Green Watch Dog. He runs to a new article and starts barfing his usuals all over it
Take for example this latest, calling for trump to have power for the next three terms. I believe the Bible speaks about what happens when the people “Cry out for a king”, and for someone like @USA who wants to appear(laughably so) as being aligned with the constitution, it does not look good for him.
What bout the biggest killers ( Automobiles ) Demo-Rats aren’t going after them yet except for A O C and she says they will all be gone in 10 years!!!!!!!!!!
ackshully, the medical profession as it stands today are responsible for more deaths than vehicles here in the US. Between prescription drugs taken as directed, adverse conflicts between drugs taken simultaneously, errors in practice, and infections contracted in hosital/clinic settings the toll is higher than cars, alcohol, illegal drugs, suicide, and firearms compbined.
Abortions are the biggest killers…4000 a day
It’s not about what causes unscheduled death or crime.
It’s about who is controllable and who is NOT!
and when all figure that out we can solve this issue and get on with life and death
It isn’t the tool or tools used it is the person,the Leftard’s just can’t wrap their mindless heads around that concept.
What should be obvious to all is there are no degrees in death. That destination, at least in this life, is final. Falling off a ladder, airline crashes, vehicle accidents, murder by any of a hundred means, medical mal practice, heart attack, stroke, knife or gunshot wounds, nuclear war, conventional warfare, terrorism, gang violence, drowning, lightening strike, bee attack, shark attack, bear attack, fire, storms, drug O.D., some nut job who is ticked because someone plagiarized his work?—the list is endless. On Fox the other day, Tucker C. read a report that more people are murdered in America with hammers… Read more »
It’s not about what causes unscheduled death or crime.
It’s about who is controllable and who is NOT!
and when all figure that out we can solve this issue and get on with life and death
I will pick up the rifle of my choice and carry it to where it needs used. I won’t remove my sleeves and bare my arms!
That’s how you get sunburned arms my fellow patriot:)
While Japan is touted as a prime example of the success of gun control, almost nobody in the gun rights community points to our neighbor Mexico as a prime example of the failure of gun control. In fact, with their rates of murders and violence with firearms, it’s a wonder our side barely mentions it. Possibly, a great part of the reason is that we our cowered by the antis maintaining that the guns mostly come from the US. Don’t let them use this excuse. The society and culture of Mexico as well as the government’s tradition of corruption, are… Read more »