Take It From Japan: Less Guns, Less Gun Violence

Notice something about those police? That's right, they don't have guns. Unlike American police, most Japanese cops don't have guns, tasers or other lethal weapons. (These are Japanese police and the picture was taken in Japan — the McDonald's pictured is deceptive.)

Returning from a long trip always brings revelations about home. Last month as I journeyed back from Japan, the realization was that America is inundated with, addicted to and plagued by guns.

By and large, the Japanese do not own, use, murder with, shoot drunkenly, or obsess about guns. The family I was visiting was shocked when I explained how easy it was to obtain a shotgun, handgun or (in some states) even a machine gun.

Japan has incredibly low crime rates and strict, straight-forward weapons regulations: "No-one shall possess a fire-arm or fire-arms or a sword or swords." Lo and behold, Japan has not only incredibly low gun homicides, but crime rates in general.

Lack of crime is a little more complicated than a simple correlation to firearm ownership (in a crowded bar late one night in Tokyo, I saw a woman leave her entire wallet open, stuffed with cash and credit cards, on a table while she went out for a smoke). But statistics on gun death in the two countries tell a pretty unambiguous tale. Check out this statistic from the Global Gun Epidemic, a 2006 study on international gun use. In 2001, there were 3.8 homicides with a firearm for every 100,000 people in the U.S. During the course of a year in Japan? .02 homicides per 100,000. The shocking disparity continues when you compare muggings, robbery with a firearm and general firearm possession.

Sure, the argument can be made that U.S. criminals have firearms and so U.S. police need to have them as well. I'm not saying every police department should throw away their guns and immediately go out and buy "Japanese Law Enforcement: Self-Defense Techniques." At $27.95 it's much cheaper than even the flimsiest firearm! (Jokes aside, it wouldn't hurt for U.S. cops to brush up on non-violent ways to diffuse violent situations.). But there's no arguing against the fact that the U.S. would benefit immensely if we were to scale back the proliferation and use of guns by criminals and cops alike.

Sadly, we're nowhere close to even talking about that goal. The real straw on the revelatory camel's back is that we aren't discussing how to reduce gun possession and use in this country, but instead whether or not we can carry our prolific stockpiles of guns out in public. As if this isn't a no-brainer. It's like saying the world would be safer if everyone had a nuclear weapon and carried it around in a suitcase wherever they went. Re-read The Butter Battle Book to see where that road leads.

The U.S. has a long way to go on reducing astronomical crime rates and dismantling the costly crime-law enforcement complex. In the meantime, there's a lot to be learned from a country that has successfully minimized the deadly effect of guns on its society. The no-brainer? Less guns — surprise, surprise — equals less gun violence.

Photo Credit: Abassa