TOKYO – It is said that if you ban guns, only bandits will have guns – but that’s not true in Japan, which has some of the strictest laws on the books prohibiting possession of guns, and imposes even more severe penalties for using of it. If you fire a gun at someone here, you will probably be in prison for more than 20 years. The harsh punishments even prevent the yakuza, the Japanese organized crime syndicates, from using firearms. In 2017, only three people were killed by gunfire across the country.
But people will always find ways to kill each other and, as it turns out, outlaws will resort to other deadly weapons, such as crossbows, if you ban guns in Japan.
Thump.
Now the Japanese government is considering banning most people from buying, selling or owning this semi-automatic bow and arrow. After a series of heinous crimes involving the use of the weapons, revisions to Japanese laws are now pending that will limit their use to sports and calming animals. The new revisions are expected to be adopted at the current session of parliament.
The new laws will be retroactive, so those outlaws planning a crime with their handy crossbows will have to report them to the authorities, or get a permit, or face jail time. If you were planning on trying to be a real (murderous) Green Arrow, think twice. Penalties for using it as a weapon are likely to be severe. However, if you are using a crossbow for a legitimate purpose, such as shooting crossbow, you may keep it, as you will receive a permit.
Several gruesome murders have been committed over the past decade that prompted a crackdown on dealing with these potential weapons. According to the Japanese National Police Bureau, 32 cases of crossbows have been used in crimes in the past 10 years, killing six people and injuring 11 people.
Of these murders, the most gruesome was a family murder in which three people died and one person in critical condition.
Last summer, Hideaki Nozu, a troubled 23-year-old who lives in Takarazuka City in western Japan, reportedly bought a crossbow and used it to shoot his entire family. According to reports in Sankei newspaper and other Japanese media, he went on a murderous rampage on the morning of June 4, shooting his younger brother twice in the bathroom a short distance away, his mother in the living room and his 75-year-old grandmother in her bedroom.
Each shot was fired at the head and pierced the skull. Later that day he called his aunt. When she arrived and opened the door, he shot her in the neck at the entrance. She ran out of the house with the arrow still on her neck and called for help. After successfully removing one of the arrows, his younger brother was still breathing when the police arrived, but died in a hospital seven hours later.
During a period of self-imposed isolation and possible mental illness, Nozu reportedly blamed his family for all of his troubles, including having to drop out of college because he couldn’t afford tuition. He was charged with murder and attempted murder, and reportedly told police that – with the goal of killing all of his family – he practiced using the crossbow several times at home before carrying out his plan.
The crossbow murders unleashed a volley of copy-cat crimes. An incident, which occurred on July 26, prompted Hyogo prefecture to issue an ordinance restricting the sale and possession of crossbows. It was an unemployed housewife who shot her husband with a crossbow while he was sleeping. Fortunately for the man, the arrow only grazed his head, and he woke up before his wife could finish the job by trying to slit his throat with a kitchen knife. The crossbow bearer told police officers that after losing her job and being detained at home due to the pandemic, she had become increasingly irritable. She had heard of the murders committed in June of that month and decided to buy her own crossbow to use on her husband.
The following month, there was another incident: a 28-year-old unemployed woman used a crossbow to shoot an elderly social worker, piercing his right arm. Fortunately, he was alive, and the attacker was arrested for attempted murder.
Under current laws, crossbows – commonly referred to as ‘bow guns’ or ‘western bows and arrows’ in Japan, although officially called crossbows in parliament – will be strictly defined as a bow that uses a locking mechanism to hold the string after it is drawn, and can release an arrow with enough force to harm a living person.
Nine months after the anti-crossbow law became law, civilians wishing to get their hands on the guns will have to obtain approval from the local public safety commission and keep the arches locked when not in use. Crossbow use is only allowed on shooting ranges and other special locations. Recently released ex-convicts, drug addicts and people under 18 are not allowed to own crossbows.
Illegal possession of a crossbow is punishable by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 500,000 yen (approximately $ 5,000). The restrictions on buying and selling crossbows are being refined as the bill moves towards completion, but crossbow dealers who fail to perform proper background checks or cannot confirm whether the buyer is licensed will face up to six months in prison or imprisonment. fine of up to $ 2,000.
If there was a National Crossbow Association in Japan they would be outraged. The Daily Beast has asked the National Bowgun Shooting Association for comment on the pending bill, but as of the time of writing, they had not responded.