Posted on 06/14/2023 7:59:01 AM PDT by Red Badger
Military personnel gather at a firing range in Gifu, central Japan after a shooting incident left two dead and one injured Wednesday. Photo by Jiji Press/EPA-EFE
June 14 (UPI) -- Two Japanese soldiers were killed and another was injured after being shot by a recruit at a training range Wednesday in the central prefecture of Gifu, Japan's military said.
The shooting took place at around 9 a.m. at the Hino shooting range in Gifu, Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force said in an initial report.
"During a live-fire drill in new recruit training, one Self-Defense Force candidate fired at three personnel," the GSDF said, later confirming that two of the victims were killed.
The 18-year-old shooter used an automatic rifle, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Police said he was arrested on the scene and later admitted to the shooting,
The two soldiers who died were aged 25 and 52, according to police, while the third SDF member shot was 25.
GSDF Chief of Staff Gen. Morishita Yasunori said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that a committee will be set up to investigate the shooting.
"This kind of incident should never have happened at an organization that handles weapons," he said. "As the GSDF's chief of staff, I take this very seriously."
Shootings in Japan are extremely rare, as the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. However, a handful of high-profile violent crimes have rattled the public since the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last July.
In April, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escaped injury after a man threw a smoke bomb during a campaign appearance in western Japan. The incident, which took place shortly before the country hosted the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Hiroshima, sparked renewed calls for beefed-up public security measures.
Last month, four people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting and stabbing rampage in Nagano.
Seven six two millimeter..... Full metal jacket...
US range operators are armed in anticipation of exactly this from our trainees.
Came here for this. Same goes for most civilian shooting ranges with R.O.s that I've been to.
They do have very restrictive gun laws BUT also have a very unforgiving capital punishment law. If your found guilty of capital crime you are not told the date of your execution until the execution. Less than 24 hours if I am not mistaken.
I’ve noticed that too ever since the Chris Kyle murder.
“This kind of incident should never have happened at an organization that handles weapons,” he said. “As the GSDF’s chief of staff, I take this very seriously.”
it was a deliberate act, better recruit screening maybe
That didn’t take long.
If only the Japanese Army had Common Sense Gun Control.
This wasn’t terribly unusual during the Vietnam War, the sergeants were very alert to any recruit changing the direction of his rifle and were very ready to shoot.
Narrative injected where it doesn't belong ...at least until the facts are known.
This was during military training at a freaking firing range. I think you would expect to find guns there.
It is not unheard of, for a new recruit unfamiliar with handling guns, to point it where he shouldn't be pointed. When I was in basic, the red hats were standing on more than a few necks over muzzle control issues.
“better recruit screening maybe”
He may have been fine when he was recruited and just cracked under pressure. I don’t know if there’s any way to predict that.
I wonder if the shooter was a follower of the Religion of Peace.
/s
In the old days, he would’ve met a samurai sword that afternoon.
“I wonder if the shooter was a follower of the Religion of Peace.”
Why do you wonder?
Even so, something like this seems pretty hard to prevent. You give a kid an automatic weapon and he’s always going to be able to take out a few people first.
pfflier wrote: “It is not unheard of, for a new recruit unfamiliar with handling guns, to point it where he shouldn’t be pointed. When I was in basic, the red hats were standing on more than a few necks over muzzle control issues.”
When we doing live fire training at Fort Benning we developed an informal arrangement where those lacking familiarity with firearms were positioned in the center of our formation while the rest of us country boys were on the flanks where we could keep an eye on the city boys.
Way back in 1970 I saw a range officer pull his sidearm when an ROTC cadet rolled onto his back while at a firing position.
Why not?
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