Japan Air gun trouble

[electric sheep]

July 5, 2006
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News Top Page > WaiWai > Archive > Full Report
Full Report

Jumpy Japan takes cover from air gun scare
A growing number of Japanese men who've recently developed a propensity to quickly whip out their weapons is creating widespread debate about gun control, Japan-style, according to Weekly Playboy (10/18).

Separate incidents in Saitama, Wakayama and Hyogo prefectures in late September have thrown gun control into the spotlight even though there were no fatalities and the greatest damage that occurred was to vehicle, and not human, bodies.

But, unlike other countries where assault rifles, pistols and other types of firearms are at the center of debate about weapons, attention in Japan -- home to some of the world's toughest firearms controls -- is focused on how to handle air guns.

Until recently, when most Japanese thought of lethal weapons, it usually meant a sword. But the spate of September shootings now has some worried that guns are dominating the country, albeit if the weapons are not quite the real thing.

"Actually, there have been loads of replicas of real guns flowing around the market for years," a self-professed gun "freak" tells Weekly Playboy. "In fact, there were so many replicas going around in the underworld that the over-supply meant the only way they could be sold was to katagi (the yakuza word used to describe 'ordinary people')."

"The air gun used in the Wakayama shooting was of a type available in large quantities and used mainly by gun freaks who have been forbidden from using them in war games," weapons expert Takao Komine tells Weekly Playboy. "You'll get booted out of the war game world if you try and use a revamped air gun. There are loads of people who've been banned for trying to do this. And these twits are taking out their frustrations by going hither and thither, taking pot shots at cars and other people."

Also causing problems are people called haipawa chuunaa -- high power tuners -- professionals who'll turn a harmless BB gun or air rifle into a potentially lethal weapon.

"Air guns can break through a human cheek with force yield of 4 joules and smash human bones with a force yield of 7 joules, so the law restricts the force yield of air guns to 1 joule. A raid on a high power tuner in Shizuoka on the day after all the shootings unearthed a cache of re-jigged air guns that were being made and sold with a force yield of 15 joules. There are even some places in the country where you can get guns with a yield of 17 joules," a self-professed high power tuner says.

A low-ranking yakuza admits the proliferation of powerful, revamped air guns has proved a boon for the underworld.

"A few times a year we'll go out to the office mailbox and find somebody's shoved a revamped air gun or model gun in there," the gangster tells Weekly Playboy. "The katagi get all interested in the weapons, then worry about what to do if they're caught with them so they put 'em in our letterbox." (By Ryann Connell)

October 7, 2005


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WaiWai stories are transcriptions of articles that originally appeared in Japanese language publications. The Mainichi Daily News cannot be held responsible for the contents of the original articles, nor does it guarantee their accuracy. Views expressed in the WaiWai column are not necessarily those held by the Mainichi Daily News or Mainichi Newspapers Co.
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[digitaldwarf]

I'd take that report with a pinch of salt
"people called haipawa chuunaa -- high power tuners "
sort of gives it away doesn't it

[electric sheep]

Oh yes but i like the idea of the most feared criminal 's in the east bothering with 17joules when they can have 500+ in there pockets

[zanes]

Originally Posted by digitaldwarf

I'd take that report with a pinch of salt
"people called haipawa chuunaa -- high power tuners "
sort of gives it away doesn't it

Katakana- english words imported into the japanese language

[fullmetaljacket]

Originally Posted by electric sheep

Oh yes but i like the idea of the most feared criminal 's in the east bothering with 17joules when they can have 500+ in there pockets

Criminals would naturally prefer proper firearms, but the energy levels of 15-17 jouls - about 12 ft/lbs - is certainly not negligible, particularly if the guns in question are airsoft.

At 550 feet per second, a 0.22 gram BB will happily punch through 1/8 inch of ply. That's a little over 2 ft/lbs.

To acheive 12 ft/lbs, that same BB would have to be travelling at about 1,200 feet per second - I, for one, would not want to stand in its path

[Rob M]

Like their word for "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween" type films: "Saiko Horaa", or Psycho Horror films...

[fullmetaljacket]

oh, and props to Ryann Connell for actually reading an article from Playboy Weekly