Abe was the prime minister less than two years ago. And was currently campaigning. This is the type of thing the press would normally go full on board with story after story.

But as noted it happened in a country that has very low gun violence and strict gun laws. So any real outcry would damage the lefts preferred narrative. Especially when you point out that it appears he made the gun himself. It illustrates that their “solutions” to gun crimes really do not work.

Add in the fact that Abe was very anti China. And I see plenty of reasons why they are treating this in a very matter of fact way

It appears he’d used components from a electrically actuated propellant detonator, or perhaps a deflagrating charge – i.e. rapid combustion. He’d served in the Japanese Maritime Force and may have become familiar with similar components used to inflate flotation devices and in underwater demolition. Less powerful versions can be found in car airbag systems.

Those were screwed into one end of each pipe and their lead wires were connected to a power switch – shrapnel of some sort was then added to the pipe. It was basically a blunderbuss driven by the pressure of their discharge. That’s what produced the large cloud of white gas that can be briefly seen in some coverage. Unfortunately after the first shot either missed or failed to reach Abe, the assassin was able to get close enough for the second to hit him.

https://mmc.tirto.id/image/share/fb/2018/03/03/pembunuhan-inejiro-asanuma–istimewa.jpg

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9serd

Japan has capital punishment–“applied in practice only for aggravated murder, although it is also permitted for certain crimes against the state, such as treason and military insubordination, as well as kidnapping resulting in death. Executions are carried out by long drop hanging, and take place at one of the seven execution chambers located in major cities across the country.”

There are presently 107 prison inmates on the Japanese version of Death Row, and about 80% of the public is in favor of keeping the death penalty.

One thing to understand about Japan is that it is homogeneous or nearly so. Homogeneous societies invariably have low crime rates and high trust in their fellow citizens. This is probably why the perpetrator was able to get so close to Abe.

I wonder what the criminal penalties are for the Japanese equivalent of capital murder?

I wonder if these police use the Wild West idea of:

“If you can’t do the job with 6 shots, then you probably can’t do it at all.”

(I think that was a motto made, to get people to practice their marksmanship.) Hm.

Dang. Well, that’s what I get for reading too many Japanese comic books, that have settings in, “most-cops-don’t-carry-guns-England”!

*looks sheepish* 🙂