Dealing with random killings in Japan

Touchy subject, but very interesting. I’ve read a bunch of pro-gun articles that show the crime rate rising with the ban of guns.

If you restrict the sale of knives in Japan somehow, you’d just create a black market and a whole new set of problems to deal with.

as i mention to my family and friends often – it is not the weapon – it is the person on the other side of the weapon and what is going on in his/her head that is the problem. yes, people will find a way to do the evil they want to do. there have been people who have plowed through crowds with their cars right here in japan. are they going to ban cars, too?

Good point about the knee-jerk reaction to these random attacks. The apparent “surge” in such incidents also bears some examination. The most telling point in the original article (both Japanese and English versions) is that the figure of 67 incidents from 1998 to 2007 covers not only actual killings but attempts, which is disingenuous because we are not told exactly what constitutes an attempt. A more honest and less sensational approach would have reported the actual incidents only (in a similar way the NPA overstates crime rates by includes overstaying in the list of crimes committed by non-Japanese nationals). Another point is that the number of incidents is so few that any movement appears to be statistically significant – doubling sounds scary, but a jump from 4 to eight incidents, when taking into account the population and the statistics for other kinds of dangers (traffic accident, heart disease etc) is a blip rather than a surge.

This is brilliant. Seriously.
The UK is having a big ‘anti knife’ hysterical media frenzy at the moment, saying ‘ban knives’ and such, but its not the knives, its the society we live in.
If some grotty little 10 year old oik wants to go stabbing, and all the knives in the world have been outlawed, then he would just use something else to stab with. At the end of the day, if someone wants to cause harm, they will. Where theres a will, theres a way.

I just hope the government in the UK come to terms with this and look at the scumbag kids of today and the lives they lead. Its society, not sharp inanimate metal objects that kill people.

I hereby declare that all humans should be fitted into a nerf mold upon birth or entering Japan. That would make it very difficult to hold a knife and in the event of being able to do that, the potential victims would be protected.

The Akihabara also used a TRUCK to hit 5 of those people.

The number of incidents of people killing masses of pedestrian with cars is also on the rise [mostly senile old people who shouldn't be driving, but some intentional]

Are we banning cars?

A bit of common-urban-wisdom is: “If you want to kill someone and get away with it, hit them with your car.” Claim you just made a mistake, or were adjusting the radio, or the brakes failed, and often the only punishment you’ll get is losing your drivers license (and often not even permanently)

Face it, Japanese society has become a breeding ground for angry, lonely guys, but the recent trend of underemployment, low wages, etc. has tipped the scales. They can’t even afford basic entertainments to relieve stress.