Posted on 05/07/2014 11:57:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
TOKYO: A Japanese man suspected of possessing guns made with a 3-D printer has been arrested, reports said Thursday, in what was said to be the country's first such detention.
Officers who raided the home of Yoshitomo Imura, a 27-year-old college employee, confiscated five weapons, two of which had the potential to fire lethal bullets, broadcaster NHK said.
They also recovered a 3-D printer from the home in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, but did not find any ammunition for the guns, Jiji Press reported.
It is the first time Japan's firearm control law has been applied to the possession of guns produced by 3-D printers, Jiji reported.
The police investigation began after the suspect allegedly posted video footage on the Internet showing him shooting the guns, the Mainichi Shimbun said on its website.
Officers suspect that he downloaded blueprints for making the guns with 3-D printers from websites hosted overseas, the newspaper said.
The daily said the suspect largely admitted the allegations, saying: "It is true that I made them, but I did not think it was illegal."
The police refused to confirm the reports, although broadcasters showed footage of Imura being taken in for questioning.
The rapid development of 3-D printing technology, which allows relatively cheap machines to construct complex physical objects by building up layers of polymer, has proved a challenge for legislators around the world.
Weapons assembled from parts produced by the printers are not detectable with regular security equipment, like that found at airports, leading to fears that they may be used in hijackings.
The debate about home-made guns took off last year in the United States when a Texas-based group, Defense Distributed, posted blueprints for a fully functional, 3-D-printed firearm, a single-shot pistol made almost entirely out of hard polymer plastic.
In December the US Congress renewed a ban on guns that contain no metal.
While Japanese police are armed, Japan has very strict firearms control laws and few people possess guns or have ever come into contact with them.
Different history, different laws, different national character.
2nd Amendment parallels need not apply.
Wow, this person is so smart, it make our life more convenient
My niece had a Japanese exchange student years ago we talk him to shoot rifles pistols and shotguns.
He was a happy camper.
Their laws are bunk then. The Japanese should have the same right of self-defense (and defense against tyrannical government) as anyone else.
The Japanese people, by and large, are socialists. Doesn’t bother me that they don’t own or want guns. Besides, one day, their socialist leaders will tell them guns are good, hand them out and teach everyone how to pull the trigger, then tell them who to shoot. History is a fine instructor, if one cares to pay attention.
Around 1983 or so, about 40 folks from Japan spent a month at my company, a major defense contractor. They were from Fuji Heavy Industries, which had entered a licensing agreement with my company to manufacture some products. They were visiting to learn of our controls and procedures in Quality.
They were ALL very polite and friendly and quickly became friends of those of us that were giving them a cram course.
The Supervisor assigned to me to ‘train’ soon became a good friend, as we would exchange information about our families and cultures.
Near the end of their business visit, I asked if he would like to take a break and get away from the hard work. He expressed the desire to go to a gun store and explained the laws in Japan that did not permit guns. We took the afternoon off and I drove him to a gun store. His eyes were popping, as he viewed the numerous weapons available!
He bought a gaudy gun belt with holster ($75) to take home. He explained that in Japan the folks could own replica firearms only, but not ones that would actually fire a bullet. They often held fast draw contests, using replicas of pistols as seen in American western movies. He had a Colt revolver replica and felt the belt and holster would show it off.
I told him that we teach all are kids to shoot. We remember the lessons of the past.
I taught a Ukrainian lady to shoot and told her to tell all the Russians back home. That all women are taught to shoot.
Agreed. — IIRC, there were weapons-limitations imposed by our terms for their surrender.
And that is a direct result of America's greatest failing: failure to send swarms
of [Protestant] missionaries as soon as we accepted their surrender.
(If we had, it would be likely that we'd be reaping some benefit and Japan sending missionaries here.)
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