Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Shinzo Abe Assassination Rocks Japan, Where Gun Violence Is Rare
The Washington Post: Shinzo Abe’s Death In Shooting Shocks Japan, Nation With Strict Gun Laws
The fatal shooting of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign event Friday has shocked a country that has some of the world’s strictest laws on gun ownership, with political assassinations rare in the past few decades. ... In 2020, there were nearly 192,000 licensed firearms, largely shotguns and hunting rifles, according to the National Police Agency, in a country with a population estimated at around 125 million. “Gun violence is very, very rare,” according to Satona Suzuki, a lecturer in Japanese history at SOAS University of London. (Francis and Inuma, 7/8)
CNN: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Assassinated In Nara Shooting
Nancy Snow, Japan director of the International Security Industrial Council, told CNN that Friday's shooting will change the country "forever." "It's not only rare, but it's really culturally unfathomable," Snow said. "The Japanese people can't imagine having a gun culture like we have in the United States. This is a speechless moment." (Regan and Ogura, 7/8)
The Guardian: Why Gun Violence Is So Rare In Zero-Tolerance Japan
Japan has close to zero tolerance of gun ownership and one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the world, making the attack on Shinzo Abe a particularly extraordinary act of violence. A 1958 postwar law on the possession of swords and firearms states: “No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords.” The pathway to gun ownership in Japan takes 13 steps. First, potential gun owners need to join a hunting or shooting club, they then have to take a firearm class and pass a written exam, before getting a doctor to state they are mentally fit and have no history of drug dependency. (Kelly and McCurry, 7/8)
In other news on the gun violence epidemic —
The Washington Post: The Staggering Scope Of U.S. Gun Deaths Goes Far Beyond Mass Shootings
The spate of shooting attacks in communities such as Highland Park, Ill.; Uvalde, Tex.; and Buffalo has riveted attention on America’s staggering number of public mass killings. But the rising number of gun deaths in the United States extends beyond such high-profile episodes, emerging nearly every day inside homes, outside bars and on the streets of many cities, according to federal data. (Berman, Bernstein, Keating, Tran and Galocha, 7/8)
ABC News: NYPD Says Murders And Shootings Are Down, Despite Recent High-Profile Incidents
The New York City Police Department said Thursday that murders and shootings are down in the city, despite three people being killed within an hour the night before. In June, murders were down 12% compared to the same period last year and shootings decreased by 13% last month compared to June 2021, the department said. (Grant and Katersky, 7/7)
The Washington Post: With Little Outcry, Chicago’s Bloody Weekend Eclipsed Highland Park Toll
No new counseling resources were announced this week on this city’s impoverished South Side, even after a man was shot to death in broad daylight, feet from a playground, days before July Fourth. There are no crowdsourced charity drives raising millions for victims’ families in Chicago, where the holiday weekend death toll reached at least 10 with 62 injured — numbers that exceed the toll from a July Fourth parade shooting in nearby Highland Park, Ill. In that affluent lakeside suburb, the violence was an anomaly. Here, it is a grimly regular occurrence. (Klemko, 7/7)
