Who thinks that? Strict firearm laws = reduced civilian ownership. I doubt anyone thinks as you say they think.
I would not have guessed that old from the Twitter photo linked above. The clothes and hairstyle and general body shape look like someone much younger.
Senate elections are on Sunday and, while he’s not up for reelection myself (as I erroneously stated in the other thread - he’s an MP in the lower house), he was giving a speech in support of the LDP’s candidates at the time of the shooting.
The latest I’m seeing is that Abe was still alive as of about an hour ago and that the shooter is a 3-year Navy veteran who was discharged in 2008.
From the article:
In the video of the incident, the shooter can be seen in one frame about 10 meters away from Abe. The first shot, I’m guessing, did not hit Abe. The second shot happened a couple of seconds later, when the camera shooting the video had dipped down, so that was Abe out of view. I presume that shot hit Abe.
The “homemade” gun, I assume, was capable of only two shots - one for each barrel - as it looks quite crude.
The PM is now speaking and answering questions from the media (live English dub).
This is apparently a snap of the moment Yamagami was seized by a security officer. (Get the Pulitzer ready.)
Judging from the fact that there’s still a cloud of smoke lingering in the air, I’m gonna guess his ammo (and possibly gunpowder) was homemade as well as the gun.
Also, not quite sure what to make of this, but it looks like he’s wearing his mask with his nose sticking out.
Abe is currently receiving a blood transfusion, per his brother, the Minister of Defence.
Moderator Note
While some discussion of the weapon involved is appropriate given the circumstances, this is starting to head off in the direction of a more general gun law debate, which is inappropriate in a breaking news thread. Feel free to continue this discussion elsewhere if you’d like.
This is the one I saw on a site earlier.
I thought it was one of the goofiest-looking serious historical photos ever.
It’s definitely the equal of this classic photo of Secret Service agent Robert Wanko (and what a name that is), with fancy Italian shoes and porno 'stashe, cocking his Uzi during the Reagan assassination attempt.
Before I was looking at the shooter’s legs pinwheeling in the air and the old guy riding by on a bicycle, but I only just now noticed that the man on the far left holding the bag isn’t touching the ground.
Abe is dead.
Not sure what to make of this - according to one of Japan’s leading papers, Yamagami has stated during interrogation that he actually intended to kill “an executive of a particular religious group”, who was not actually present during Abe’s speech.
I’m thinking at this point that the assassin is either a dedicated political fanatic, an absolute lunatic, or some combination of both.
The firearm is similar to a Diablo 12 Gauge Double Barreled Blackpowder Shotgun, a rather handsome thing I could have made many years ago in my father’s machine shop. That, some black powder and shot and you’ve got two shots from each barrel.
Wow. Just wow.
I recall that Abe was quite the Elvis fan. I hope he got to see the new movie.
Speaking of swords, there is also the case of Yukio Mishima. He was a well known writer who tried to stage a coup in 1970, he wanted Imperial rule reinstated. The coup failed and Mishima committed seppuku.
A lot of heat-of-the-moment action photos by journalism photographers turn out this way. This book:
appears to be out of print now, but it contains a lot of photos with that same quality. It includes a photo of Asanuma’s assassination in 1960, the same one in the Wikipedia article Smapti linked to upthread.
Wow, Japan is one of the few places left that where something like this didn’t happen.
It’s especially sad because Abe was out of office. Just a regular guy giving a speech and expressing his opinions.
While no longer Prime Minister, Abe continued to serve as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives and was still a very influential figure within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Not saying that’s why he was assassinated – early reports look like this guy may have been a nutjob.