Raj Feridun wrote:
> On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 23:53:59 +0900, Eric Takabayashi
> <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote:

>>It is not, nor is it a defense. I see such ignorance or denial among Japanese
>>all the time. Even killings take place in Fukuyama, yet people will claim it
>>is not a problem. There is a rifle store (which advertises a shooting club) in
>>the neighborhood across the street, yet people claim that there are no guns in
>>Japan and that I must have seen model guns. I guess all the gun related crimes
>>(including in Fukuyama) are imaginary, as well.
> 
> Most guns in Japan are cheap Chinese crap brought in by the yakuza.
> They're just as likely to blow up and kill the person firing them.

Yes most of the guns brought into Japan are of Chinese manufacture 
(according to the local police officers I had a chinwag with last week, 
the remaining black market guns are stolen). They are not however "crap" 
nor likely to injure their user, unless said user is an idiot. Apart 
from the problem of black market 56-1 (Chinese version of the AK47), the 
gradual proliferation of reliable pistols is apparently also a growing 
concern.

> There are shootings down here too although they are almost ALWAYS
> gangsters shooting each other.
<snip>
> Thanks for clearing me up on Fukuyama. Now that you mention it I also
> passed through your city recently on my way back from Shimonoseki ( I
> took a short ferry trip to Pusan). I didn't get off the train but the
> city did indeed look quite large. It's definitely bigger than this
> town.

Which prefecture/town do you live in btw? My last trip to Shikoku was in 
August (Awaji/Tokushima/Iya/Kochi/Takamatsu).




-- 
"Beyond the Euphrates began for us the land of mirage and danger, the 
sands where one helplessly sank, and the roads which ended in nothing. 
The slightest reversal would have resulted in a jolt to our prestige 
giving rise to all kinds of catastrophe; the problem was not only to 
conquer but to conquer again and again, perpetually; our forces would be 
drained off in the attempt." - Emperor Hadrian AD 117-138