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A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

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Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#71

Post by level3 »

opencl wrote: post #52
warent wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I want to believe this is true, I can't help but question the accuracy of the japan times reporting on Japan. In my mind, it's like RT reporting on Russia

This seems like a bit of an odd complaint, do you think journalism has to be done by foreigners? Or if your comparison to RT is about them being owned/heavily influenced by the government, they're not: the NHK is the quasi-governmental news org in Japan.

In fact, this particular article is by a foreigner - Jake Adelstein, an American who has been reporting on the yakuza and Japanese police for a long time now. He’s written for a lot more outlets than just the Japan Times as well.

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#72

Post by UncleEntity »

I can't even count the times I've heard of someone getting into a bar fight and not being content to get their ass kicked "like a man" proceed to get a gun out of their car and shoot like six innocent people trying to get back at the person who did the ass kicking.

It's a cultural thing methinks...

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#73

Post by UncleEntity »

fenomas wrote: post #59
warent wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I want to believe this is true, I can't help but question the accuracy of the japan times reporting on Japan. In my mind, it's like RT reporting on Russia

Huh? Japan Times isn't state media, it's a regular private newspaper. Japan Times reporting on Japan is akin to the New York Times reporting on New York.

So highly biased and lapdogs of the ruling elite then?

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#74

Post by sametmax »

StudentStuff wrote: post #63
sametmax wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say it this way: imagine it was not prison, but a full therapy treatment and rehabilitation. Do you think that 3 years is enough to rehabilitate an adult that all the events in life lead him or her to kill somebody ? Some people take 10 years to quit smoking. Also, while I agree with your point on abusing the justice system and not using it for revenge, you must not forget that: - currently we also use it as a…

A murderer will murder, regardless of whether they are in prison for 1 year or 100 years afterward, they are not apt to estimate what a judge will give them for a particular crime. Deterrence for higher level crimes through harsher sentencing is ineffective.

You are talking in absolute, and this is rarely true.

What's "a murderer" ? Are all of them equals ?

Do you think a Yakuza and a an person wanting an inheritance have the same views on violence ?

And what if you have a one year sentence ? One month ? One week ? None ? Do you think there would be no difference ?

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#75

Post by sametmax »

kungtotte wrote: post #66
acct1771 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The victim sees no difference in either of your examples, so I'm having a hard time agreeing fully.

Scenario A: you are at a bar and someone starts a fight with you. You fight back and due to unfortunate circumstances they fall and hit their head in such a way that they die. Scenario B: you are angry at your neighbor for always taking your parking lot. So you acquire a gun, and in the middle of the night you sneak over to his house, break in, and shoot him while he's sleeping. Two dead victims, two very different s…

That's why we have judges.

Here we are talking about yakuza, organized crime, not Joe or Jane having one bad moment in life.

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#76

Post by ezoe »

Seriously? As a Japanese, I can't agree any of the auther's claim.

First, It's less than 20 years old for a crime to be punished differently than adults in Japan. Not 21 years. An article containing this level of mistake cannot trusted further.

It said, Japanese biker gang can get a gun but not doing so because of honor, “Being able to move your finger on a trigger is not really a skill that wows anyone.” What?

It costs a fortune(and you have to deal with bad guys) to illegally acquire the shitty hand gun that was so poorly manufactured and cannot be trusted.

And each live rounds cost a fortune too.

How can a young dropouts and delinquents earn such amount of money while still maintaining the bikes?

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#77

Post by sametmax »

SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #68
sametmax wrote: post #31

Well, there is another thing as well: is it legal and easy to get a gun in Japan as a person ? Because I get that a gang use guns in the US, where it's quite easy to get your hands on one. But in France, while some criminals do have guns, it's not that common. It's not only hard to get a gun but it would also almost always considered like a sure tell something fishy is going on. Having a gun, unless you can conceal i…

You know guns are legal outside of Paris and you can buy silencers over the counter right? The most serious restriction on guns in France is you can only own two at any time that accept military calibers. So 9x19mm, bad, but 9x21mm A-OK.

You need to practice at a shooting range with professional to even get access to a simple gun.

A process that is hardly as casual as this: http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/19/news/guns-background-checks/...

And come on, if you get an FFL licence, you can even get a silencer or a machine gun as a normal citizen.

The difficulty is not even on the same scale.

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#78

Post by DrScump »

scythe wrote: post #53
sametmax wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 years for manslaughter ? That seems a very, very low sentence for taking a life.

Sentence is more like ten years, parole in three. Manslaughter unlike murder is supposed to be unintentional. Of course if the criminals are "networking" in prison, that should prevent parole, but cost-cutting privatization in the prison industry has ensured that doesn't happen. Likewise the only reason that it's a manslaughter charge in the first place is that witness protection, and therefore cooperation, is dismal…

  the legitimacy of the US government
Homicide is very rarely charged as a Federal crime (special cases like assassination or terrorism).

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#79

Post by masonic »

UncleEntity wrote: post #72

I can't even count the times I've heard of someone getting into a bar fight and not being content to get their ass kicked "like a man" proceed to get a gun out of their car and shoot like six innocent people trying to get back at the person who did the ass kicking. It's a cultural thing methinks...

  I can't even count the times I've heard of...
Probably because that count would be exactly... zero.

I have over 60 years of criminology data and yet cannot find one case that meets your stated criteria (bar fight or any other collection of strangers resulting in more than 2 fatalities or 3 wounded).

Re: A 1980s study on juvenile crime in Japan sheds light on American gun culture

#80

Post by novembermike »

krapp wrote: post #6
posix_compliant wrote: post #2

“Their reasons for remaining gun-free revolved around some loosely held concept of honor,” Beck says. “Being able to move your finger on a trigger is not really a skill that wows anyone.” I find this mindset is reflected in a lot of manga produced in Japan. Heroes are often paired with swords: Rurouni Kenshin, Inu Yasha, and Bleach to name a few.

And yet (as I hear) the Samurai they emulate considered their bows to be their primary weapon, and their spears their secondary weapon, and considered it a disgrace to ever need to draw their sword. They also used guns when they became available. They were soldiers and mercenaries, after all.

Depends on the era. By the time they were adopting guns most of the Samurai had given up bows. Most Samurai were spearmen, with Ashigaru typically being the bowmen.
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