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Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

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Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#302
post #94

And after debating gun violence all week with my friends in the wake of the 4th of July shooting in Highland Park I made an example of Japan and it’s low gun violence. Now this happens. Crazy stuff still happens in Japan but it’s usually a knife or ax. But guns and Abe are on another level.

My take is that gun violence has several different categories, and gun control only helps some of them (such as accidental, or emotional, spur of the moment shootings), but doesn't prevent any premeditated ones. It will not stop people like the one at 4th july, nor those school shootings. Unless the gun control laws completely outlaw civilians owning guns - which i dont think will fly. The root cause of gun violence…

One very concrete action that requires no political will, would be for the media to stop giving a platform to the shooters.

If any would be shooter clearly sees that their message will go unheard, that they will die in anonymity, I think that could deter at least some.

Your point stands though, that the issue is societal.

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#304

Update from NHK: The apprehended suspect is identified as Tetsuya Yamagami (41), a Nara resident. According to sources from the defense ministry, he was employed by the Maritime Self-Defense Forces for ~3y until 2005. Weapon seems to be homemade. No updates on Abe's status since a 13:30 update from the local fire department. He's injured in chest- and neck areas, has internal bleeding and did not show vital signs. 14…

Shizno Abe has died: https://twitter.com/myhlee/status/1545329491362598914

Terrible.

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#305
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> must take more dramatic measures to prevent it from falling into the hands of some regime the pen used for voting has more power than a gun to prevent the US from falling into the hands of "some regime".

The guns are for when the pen doesn’t work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War “The situation reached a climax in 1970, when the Bangladesh Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 313 seats in the National Assem…

From the wikipedia link:

>The Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence was broadcast from Chittagong by members of the Mukti Bahini—the national liberation army formed by Bengali military, paramilitary and civilians. The East Bengal Regiment and the East Pakistan Rifles played a crucial role in the resistance. Led by General M. A. G. Osmani and eleven sector commanders, the Bangladesh Forces waged a mass guerrilla war against the Pakistani military.

The Bangladeshi military organized the resistance. It was not a simple civilians-with-guns-rising-against-tyranny scenario.

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the school shootings, at least, there is always some unhinged person behind it. Deeper mental health checks before purchasing a gun (like as is required in Germany) could be very useful. Also, rules in place that your gun is stored securely in a safe, and spot checks to verify such (again, in Germany) can help with guns making their way into other people’s hands either by being given or by being taken. A friend of…

That is a slippery slope to every state having restrictive NY-like gun laws. I don't care about legal or cultural precedent in germany or the EU. This isn't germany. The US plays a far more important role in global affairs, and as such must take more dramatic measures to prevent it from falling into the hands of some regime, those measures include the right to bear arms as well as freedom of speech and freedom of rel…

Serious question (I also highly value personal freedom):

Isn’t the freedom to walk down the street or go to school without fear of a deranged shooter or accidental firearm discharge an important freedom too?

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#307
post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think he is an official part leader but more of an unofficial faction leader. Japan is pretty much a one party state and it’s the factions within the party that determine the direction of the country.

One party state? On Wikipedia I can see that even government is made of two parties in coalition, with 8 (mostly minor, but still) parties in opposition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Diet

His party has ruled for more than 55 years since WW2. That’s what I meant by “pretty much one party state”

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#308

Update from NHK: The apprehended suspect is identified as Tetsuya Yamagami (41), a Nara resident. According to sources from the defense ministry, he was employed by the Maritime Self-Defense Forces for ~3y until 2005. Weapon seems to be homemade. No updates on Abe's status since a 13:30 update from the local fire department. He's injured in chest- and neck areas, has internal bleeding and did not show vital signs. 14…

~17:50: Ex-PM Abe officially pronounced dead.

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think he is an official part leader but more of an unofficial faction leader. Japan is pretty much a one party state and it’s the factions within the party that determine the direction of the country.

How is multiple factions in 1 party meaningfully different from having multiple parties?

It’s quite different. It’s less democratic because there are no direct votes involved in faction fights. For example, the current PM was less popular than his competitor within the party but got the job because the faction supported him.

Re: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe Unconscious After Shooting; Man in Custody

#310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sorry, but it will stop if guns are banned for ordinary people. How many school shootings happen in China or India? I am taking china and india because they are populous and don't have gun distributed freely like in US. The fact is quantity matters in such cases. Having 1 incidence vs 10 or 20 is a huge difference.

There are hundreds of millions of americans. These mass shooting events are insignifigant in the grand scheme of things. I don't think we should give away our essential freedoms just so we can live in a "safe" country like... China and India?

> our essential freedoms just so we can live in a "safe" country like... China and India?

India has zero to no gun violence. Sure, there's a lot of petty crime, and there are enough murders happening - and the last thing we want is to arm those murderers with guns.

Your sentence seems to argue that the (much higher) degree of free speech enjoyed by Americans is owing to civilian gun ownership, which I don't think is true (though I don't have the data at hand to back up my claim).

>There are hundreds of millions of americans. These mass shooting events are insignifigant in the grand scheme of things

It's not just the number of people who get shot - it's this idea that a road rage incident _can_ potentially end in you getting shot, if the other person is deranged enough. Not to mention the amount of American tax dollars that go into ensuring that the police out-gun the civilians.

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