Regarding the Dec. 16 article "Suspect in gym shootings found dead at church": I hope the media will not use this horrible incident to begin another witch hunt against gun owners. I know there are some 300,000 rifles in Japan, which means that up to 100,000, maybe 150,000 people, own rifles legally. They don't deserve being turned into criminals just because of one person. Moreover, I don't think tighter laws are the solution.
Tighter laws would certainly not have saved the mayor of Nagasaki (who was assassinated last April). The killer in that case was a member of the yakuza, who only use illegal guns. And in June 2001, a madman stormed a school in Osaka, armed with a knife, and killed eight children. If someone is determined to kill, he doesn't need a gun. A knife, a club, anything will do.