Japan shaken by beheading, other violent crime

Tougher gun laws?
The recent surge in high-profile violent crime has spurred debate over tougher gun control rules, calls for strengthening the moral fiber of younger generations and recriminations about the state of modern parenting.

Calls for more stringent gun control intensified last month when the Nagasaki mayor was shot and killed by an organized crime boss. Days later, police stormed an apartment and seized another gangster who allegedly gunned down a rival outside a Tokyo convenience store and had barricaded himself inside.

The use of guns is still relatively alien to the Japanese public. Handguns are strictly banned, and only police officers and other professionals, such as shooting instructors, are permitted to own them.

Friday's standoff ended when the gunman, Hisato Obayashi, 50, surrendered to police 24 hours after taking his ex-wife captive. The woman, identified as Michiko Mori, escaped from a bathroom window during the siege.

The violence erupted Thursday outside the central city of Nagoya when the suspect shot his adult son and daughter and killed a policeman trying to rescue a wounded comrade. News reports said Obayashi was a former mobster affiliated with Japan's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.

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