TOKYO (AP) — News that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been shot in broad daylight Friday shocked not only Japan but the entire world, which has come to associate the relatively low-crime nation with strict gun control.
Japan, with a population of 125 million, had just 10 gun-related criminal cases last year, resulting in one death and four injuries, according to police. Eight of those cases were gang-related. Tokyo had zero gun incidents, injuries or deaths during that same year, although 61 guns were seized there.
Much remains unclear about the motive and identity of the suspect in Friday’s attack, who was taken into custody at the scene.