Editing Overview of gun laws by nation (section)

===Japan===
{{see also|Haitōrei Edict|Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law}}
The weapons law of [[Japan]] begins by stating "No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords", and very few exceptions are allowed.<ref name="isbn0-415-17086-9">"Law Controlling Possession, Etc. of Fire-Arms and Swords" (1978), Law No 6, Art 3, EHS Law Bulletin Series, No 3920.</ref>
Citizens are permitted to possess firearms for hunting and sport shooting, but only after submitting to a lengthy licensing procedure.<ref>D Bayley, ''Forces of Order: Police Behavior in Japan and the United States'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), Art 4, 23.</ref> As part of the procedure, a shooting-range test must be passed with a "mark of at least 95%".<ref name="BBC Japan">{{cite news |last1=Low |first1=Harry |title=How Japan has almost eradicated gun crime |work=[[BBC News]] |date=6 January 2017 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38365729 |access-date=13 October 2019}}</ref> A mental-health evaluation taking place at a hospital, and a thorough background check where one's family and friends are interviewed, are also part of the procedure.<ref name="BI Japan" />

A gun license expires after three years, after which license tests must be repeated.<ref name= harryLow /> After ten years of shotgun ownership, a license-holder may apply to obtain a rifle.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Umeda|first=Sayuri|title=Firearms-Control Legislation and Policy: Japan {{!}} Law Library of Congress|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/japan.php|access-date=2021-02-08|website=www.loc.gov}}</ref>

Japan has been described as the country with "perhaps the first ever gun buyback initiative" in 1685, and is the first nation to have imposed gun laws in the world;<ref name="BI Japan">{{cite web |last1=Weller |first1=Chris |title=Japan has almost completely eliminated gun deaths – here's how |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-control-how-japan-has-almost-completely-eliminated-gun-deaths-2017-10?r=US&IR=T |website=Business Insider |date=7 November 2017 |access-date=13 October 2019 |archive-date=30 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130063419/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/gun-control-how-japan-has-almost-completely-eliminated-gun-deaths-2017-10?r=US&IR=T |url-status=live }}</ref> as such, gun ownership is very rare: 0.6 guns per 100 people in 2007. When mass killings occur, they are often perpetrated by assailants wielding knives or other means,<ref name="NPR">{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Merrit |title=Suspected Arson At Anime Studio In Japan Kills At Least 33 People|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/07/18/742981029/japanese-anime-studio-hit-with-suspected-arson-killing-at-least-16 |website=NPR |date=18 July 2019}}</ref> not guns. In 2014, Japan saw six gun deaths.<ref name="BBC Japan" />

Each prefecture in the country can operate a total of three gun shops. New cartridges can only be purchased after turning in expended cartridges.<ref name= harryLow /> In turn, new magazines can be bought only by trading in old ones. If a gun owner dies, their relatives must surrender their firearms.<ref name= harryLow >{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38365729|title=How Japan has almost eradicated gun crime|work=[[BBC News]]|date=6 January 2017}}</ref> Police officers are expected to be proficient in [[judo]] to subdue suspects without firearms;<ref name= harryLow /> police are often armed, but rarely fire their weapons in the course of duty<ref name= associatedPressAbe>{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/shinzo-abe-shooting-japan-gun-control-0ab2e5afccf89fe71b8d594e4a4ad1cc|title=Japan's tight gun laws add to shock over Abe's assassination|work=[[Associated Press]]|date=8 July 2022}}</ref> and are not allowed to carry weapons when off-duty.<ref name="BI Japan" />