crime

More than 100 firearms, 1,000 bullets found in dead man’s home

29 Comments

Police in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward are investigating the discovery of more than 100 guns, rifles, airguns, model guns, as well as over 1,000 bullets, in the house of a man who died last July.

According to police, the man, who was in his 50s, died of an illness last July. His widow was cleaning out the house in December when she discovered the firearms, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Police took possession of the weapons and said there were also survival knives in the house. The widow was quoted by police as saying she didn’t know her husband had been collecting the guns which were stashed in lockers.

Police said that although the man had a permit to own guns, he possessed automatic weapons which they suspect he acquired illegally, in violation of the firearms control law. Only police and the Self-Defense Forces are permitted to have automatic weapons.

Police said the man had no known ties to criminal gangs.

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29 Comments
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Police said the man had no known ties to criminal gangs.

So, maybe he was able to acquire those automatics from his local gun shop?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Thomas GeorgeFeb. 3 10:16 am JSTNot every person who owns guns are crazy.

No they're not. However, a hysteria has been swelling in America that's been stirred up by the shrieking loudmouth NRA head Wayne LaPierre. And AM radio and late night TV has been airing some violence-inducing extremist poop-heads on the airwaves too.

There are gun owners that are not Pavlov dogs for this crap. After the OKC bombings of 1995 George Bush resigned his NRA membership because of their anti-law and hateful rhetoric and agenda.

I know not every person who owns guns are crazy. However, in America there are many gun owners who are. Not all, many.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The problem isn't the people that don't hurt anyone, it's those that do.

Obviously.

And the problem with guns is that the more people that have them, the more people hurt other people with them.

Switzerland already disproves that statement. It just is not true. As been argued repeatedly here and elsewhere, it’s cultural more than anything else.

The bottom line here, and the point of my original comment that went over more than a couple people’s heads, is that a Japanese guy owned over a hundred illegal guns and his neighborhood did not devolve into the wild west as many would have you believe is inevitable as soon as firearms are introduced into a society.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Not every person who owns guns are crazy. I live in USA and I know a lot of people who have firearms or other weapons. A firearm doesnt hurt nobody unless someone load it and shoots someone. People overseas that the USA is dangerous. Yes, some areas are but, I rather have the option to have a firearm than ban them. The police here dont have a duty to protect you. This Japanese guy probably collected them over the years and 1000 bullets is not a lot.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Was this guy a hobbyist collector or an extremist like those cuckoos so predominant in America?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Automatic weapons? You can't even get those in America.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

extankerFeb.

"But he owned all those weapons and yet he still didn't hurt anyone with them... hmmm."

Last year a loony shot up Las Vegas from his hotel room. The weapons he used were all legally registered to him.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The U.K. has strict gun laws but yet homicides are off the chain.

and as the real world statistics show your almost 5 times more likely to be murdered in the US than the UK, I wonder why that is!?

2 ( +6 / -4 )

The U.K. has strict gun laws but yet homicides are off the chain.

Really? 2016 figures are 1.2 homicides per 100,000 population, less than half the European average. (USA figure is is 5.35)

Also, I'm not sure whether Switzerland's gun laws can be described as "relaxed". They take a different approach to other countries. Possession of a firearm is compulsory for most males in their 20s as part of its military service system. They seem to take the well-regulated militia idea seriously.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

I saw a deactivated machine gun at an outdoors antiques market not too long ago.

Where would you display such an object? I wondered.

Don’t even think it, my friend advised. Even deactivated, it will attract trouble. Legal, yes, but marginally, and the police would not look kindly upon any owner. You would never really be able to show it to anyone in Japan. The same was true for a deactivated Winchester 73 repeater that I once owned here. Although ‘legal’ I was warned to hide it and never show it to anyone.

Sold it back within the week. No fun in that!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wow very rare find indeed. I bet the full autos found are from like WW I I or some very old guns.

And a very interesting point that was brought up in a comment. Sorry for not looking up in the thread. Ammo. I would really like to know more about this story. They have to be much older firearms from a different time in Japan when things were more laxed or leftovers from the war. I am talking specifically about the automatic weapons directly here. I just do not see modern weapons getting in. The airsoft. Meh, no big deal. I love the airsoft stuff. Hand guns are every where here in Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Actually, it is possible that the chimpira, thugs and yaks targeted him because he had a gun permit, and made him an offer he could not refuse. Often they will leave their guns and bullets with someone for safe keeping until they need them. And this man was able to keep a secret, even from his wife. I am sure the police will be considering things from this angle too.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

“But he owned all those weapons and yet he still didn't hurt anyone with them... hmmm.”

Outstanding comment extanker! Mm-hmm, yup guy was a good example of a responsible, law abiding gun owner. It’s a good thing chimpira thugs & yaks didn’t have access to such an arsenal. All hell would break lose because guns in the “wrong” hands. Period!

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

But he owned all those weapons and yet he still didn't hurt anyone with them... hmmm.

becasue the people that want to hurt people cant get access to weapons easily in Japan.

then you have the people who were menatlly stable when they bought the wepaons become unstable later in life, yet they still have all those weapons they bought earlier.

its simple maths , more weapons=higher risks of crimes with those weapons

3 ( +8 / -5 )

Have a friend in the USA who makes this guy look like a rookie. Personally i hate weapons especially guns but unfortunately the laws allow people to acquire massive amounts of them due to laws that are backed by corrupt politicians on the take. Japan's gun control laws are better but once in a while you get these nut jobs who slip through the system.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

she didn’t know her husband had been collecting the guns which were stashed in lockers

Obviously not a close couple. Just a pair of strangers sharing a mortgage.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

@Strangerland

Sorry, I mean to say I cannot completely agree with you. But less guns is always a good thing. It means less chances of someone using something that deadly.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

But he owned all those weapons and yet he still didn't hurt anyone with them... hmmm.

Stranger handled this nicely.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

I cannot agree with you.

You can't agree with me that less people having guns equals less people getting shot? Um......

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

No organised criminal contacts? What about JDF contacts? Police contacts? Where did he get them from? Automatic weapons aren't just floating around? But he is dead can't prosecute (yet!, perhaps a law change coming) so doubtful much of an investigation is warranted. Quite a collection.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The problem isn't the people that don't hurt anyone, it's those that do

I fully agree. The above quote brought this to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dMpX7WUIlU

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

But he owned all those weapons and yet he still didn't hurt anyone with them... hmmm.

The problem isn't the people that don't hurt anyone, it's those that do. And the problem with guns is that the more people that have them, the more people hurt other people with them. The less people have them, the less people hurt others with them.

1 ( +16 / -15 )

The weapons are not the most surprising part. Japan has strict gun control laws; however, their bullet control laws are even more strict. Clearly he "has a very particular set of skills."

12 ( +12 / -0 )

A very, very rare instance of this occurring. It couldn't have anything to do with the strict firearms control laws in Japan, could it?

But he owned all those weapons and yet he still didn't hurt anyone with them... hmmm.

6 ( +14 / -8 )

A very, very rare instance of this occurring. It couldn't have anything to do with the strict firearms control laws in Japan, could it?

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

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