Gun possession in Japan is extremely rare, with the estimated rate of private gun ownership at 0.6 arms per 100 people. Furthermore, there is no right to posses firearms by law, and even those with gun owner’s licence in Japan are required to prove genuine reason to possess a firearm, for example, hunting, target shooting.
Therefore, when a Fukuoka middle school student came to class with a gun on November 23, his teacher didn’t initially believe it could be the real thing, and stored it in the staff room, where it was accidentally fired. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident; however netizens are shocked by the news.
From NHK News Fukuoka:
Gun Brought To School By Middle-School Student Goes Off
The school where the incident occurred.
An incident at a middle school in Shime, Fukuoka Prefecture, in which a gun was accidentally discharged in the staff room after a teacher had taken it from a student who had brought the gun to school was revealed in an interview with both the police and the school in question.
No one was injured in the incident. The student said he had brought something into school that his father was storing at home; police are investigating the detailed course of events over allegations that possession of the gun violates the Swords and Firearms Control Law (1958).
At the school in Shime, Fukuoka, a teacher noticed that a male student who attends the school had brought something in that appeared to be a gun. After taking it off the boy for safekeeping, an incident occurred on November 23 where the gun was accidentally discharged.
Although no one was injured, the incident was reported to police on November 25.
According to police and to the school, it was assumed that the boy had brought a fake gun to school.
The student had told people things like “I’ve brought something that my father was keeping”, and as police are seeking expert opinions on the allegation that this constitutes a violation of the Swords and Firearms Control Law, they are taking information from the boy’s father about the course of events in detail, such as where he acquired the firearm and why he was storing it. The school commented that “There was an incident involving a firearm; however, the police are investigating so we are unable to discuss it”.
Comments from Twitter:
精密ぷりん:
Man, Fukuoka is scary.
飛沫:
Hah! I actually thought this was in America…
くろ:
Too scary.
manbo_pon:
I mean, would a normal family have guns?
esper:
What you’d expect in Fukuoka.
3770K定格運転中:
It’s not that they can’t talk about it because it’s under investigation, it’s that they can’t talk about it because they won’t talk about it w
慢下来…:
I can’t believe this RT @kirie_tequila: WAHAHAHAHAHA I thought this was a story from the US…..!!!
だいおう:
Kyushu is a scary place. What kind of guy is that kid’s father?
Admiral Sir.Takigawa:
I saw this news on TV this morning and I was well shocked. Never mind if it was America, but are there really such things happening in Japan?
かつ@ポンコツファウンダー:
So this basically means that the teacher had a go at firing it.
takaaki:
What’s his father like? Is he involved in gangs? Foreigner? Regular guy?
角本尚彦:
Huh? This was in Japan?
cocokara:
How’d he get his hands on a gun?
ジョンお姉さん:
Just a sec.
A middle school kid takes a gun that he had at home into school.
Teacher finds it and confiscates it.
The teacher, unconcerned, pulls the trigger in the staff room.
Gun fires.
School, reports it 2 days later.
Why did that take 2 days?
Nakadai:
The safe Land of Shura [a lot of netizens refer to Fukuoka as “Land of Shura” from Fist of the North Star]
黒印組織★:
Is his father a yakuza?
WTMW.:
This kid is a Japanese gangster of the future.
yuumi:
This was in Shime…there goes Fukuoka’s image again (´Д` )
