MtRoot

I just read this on a Japanese page:
http://www.asahi.com/national/update...910070121.html

In summary, a gun was found in a carry-on baggage of an American passenger flying from Dallas to BKK via NRT on 9/30. He said he had just forgot that the gun was there... Obviously, the gun had gone through the security checkpoint at Dallas.

abmj-jr

Not withstanding the whole idea that a gun got through security at a major USA airport...

It never ceases to amaze (or amuse) me that in virtually every case like this, the passenger "just forgot" the gun was in his carry-on. Yeah, right!

I carried duty and off-duty weapons for 33 years and am still authorized to carry in my home state. In all that time, I never, EVER forgot that I had a loaded firearm on or around me. Not once.

I suspect the Japanese, who don't even routinely arm their street cops, will deal with this mental giant. They just locked up a 71 year-old American tourist who had a pocket knife with a 2-1/2 inch blade for over a week. I can imagine what they will do with a gun.

Rambuster

Sounds like a reasonable explaination for someone from Texas !

Steve M

It doesn't surprise me at all. It's totally believable. Keep in mind that there's a big difference between someone with a concealed carry permit and regularly uses it, and someone that just owns a gun in their household. It's entirely believable that a gun was stored in something like a backpack at some point in the past, left in a closet, and then in the haste of packing for a trip, perhaps years later, remains undiscovered in the pack.

Not that this excuses it - I'm just saying I don't think it's at all beyond the realm of possibility, if not probability. If for no other reason, it's bad because it indicates sloppy gun storage practices in the home, but these unfortunately are all too common.

This is a common misconception. Although private ownership of guns is rare in Japan, and compared to the US, the number of gun deaths per capita is tiny (with the US's gun death rate over 28,000% higher than Japan's), all of the police carry guns.

As far as I know, pretty much all Japanese street cops are armed, although they do seem to have tiny guns by US standards - something like a 5-round revolver, and the butt is attached to their belt with a coiled tether so someone can't just grab it and run away. But Japan is not like the UK, where most police do not carry guns.

Whether or not we from a US perspective would consider a 2.5" pocketknife ban reasonable, Japan doesn't mess around with what are considered illegal weapons. And the whole prosecution and bail system in Japan is very different than it is in the US: you're probably much less likely to be arrested in a situation where you didn't do anything wrong or where the process won't lead to a prosecution and conviction, but once you're arrested, it's much worse. There is no routine issuance of bail for minor offenses within a few hours of being booked as there is in the US.

Something close to "ape-sheet" would be my guess. They're not going to think it's funny or a minor offense at all.

abmj-jr

Duplicate.

abmj-jr

I will admit it has been a looong time since my last Comparative Policing Systems class so things may have changed. I am pretty sure I have seen neighborhood cops without holsters but they may have been parking enforcement or something.

But as for the guy in question, he is likely to find out just how nasty it is to have to sit seiza at attention waiting for his bowl of rice in prison. They do not fool around with inmates at all.

Steve M

From what I understand about the Japanese prison system vs the US system, it's vastly different. There are by many measures harsh and strict conditions, and they don't mess around. But at the same time, there's essentially 0% chance that as a prisoner in the Japanese penal system that you'd ever become a violent or sexual victim of another prisoner. That is, although you have to deal with strict rules and the authorities, you have absolutely no worries about being victimized by your fellow prisoners, and that's completely different than the US system.

N830MH

Yeah, he forgot to put the guns into carryon. HE will be charge of first-degree misdemeanor. He could being banned for flying out of NRT. I do not appreciate it for his behaviors. Next time he should put the guns into the checked bags.

MtRoot

I'm yet to understand how guns are common in the US, but I can sort of understand that people occasionally forget something important.
What terrifies me is the fact that it went through the airport security. Am I too naive?

goalie

and since it's texas, let's just execute the sum'b!tch

but seriously, the tsa at dfw screwed up, "plane" and simple and afaic, (and i've been saying it all along), there should be zero tolerance for a screw up like that and the person who was working the xray should be fired-no retraining, no nuthin'-just fired

ukflyer1

Nuts.
Worries me how this got through security as well.