“Unhealthy guys have weapons, so good ladies must have weapons too.”
Our reporter Ikuna Kamezawa has travelled to many nations across the globe and made many new pals alongside the way in which. One such buddy is a kind-hearted American woman who let Ikuna keep at her dwelling within the U.S. about 20 years in the past, and when she just lately made the journey to go to Ikuna in Tokyo, they met up in Asakusa for a spot of sightseeing and an evening of ingesting.
Because the evening wore on, and after they’d downed a number of drinks, the dialog turned free and Ikuna discovered herself asking her buddy: “Hey, do you personal a gun?”
“Sure, I personal six weapons!” was the reply, and it took Ikuna completely abruptly. Even when she performs Resident Evil, she’s by no means carried six weapons, so together with her curiosity piqued, she gently pressed her buddy on the purpose, and though it’s a delicate matter that generally spurs debate world wide, she thought to share what she discovered on that evening in a frank, non-biased approach.
▼ Cheers to studying about other ways of residing world wide.
Ikuna’s buddy lives in one of the rural areas of America, the place they’ll’t survive and not using a automobile they usually get all of the provides they want from the one Walmart on the town. Her buddy is single and lives alone, and one of many six weapons she owns is a shotgun.
Pal: “Anybody can purchase a pocket-sized gun within the state the place I stay, so long as you meet the age restrictions. Nonetheless, you want a allow to purchase a shotgun. You additionally have to take a easy course.”
Ikuna: “Why a shotgun?”
Pal: “Bears and deer roam round my home, and raccoons usually are available in — they’re ferocious and have sharp claws. Should you’re in a scenario the place an animal goes to assault you, it’s finest to have a shotgun.”
▼ Undesirable guests on the home embrace racoons like this, and wild bears which were identified to strategy the entrance door.
Pal: “I’ve named my shotgun. It’s known as Olivia Benson.”
Ikuna: “How a lot was Olivia Benson?”
Pal: “I believe it was US$300 (about 45,000 yen). I believe you should buy an everyday gun for about $200 (about 30,000 yen).”
Ikuna: “Why do you have to have six weapons?”
Pal: “I’ve one in my automobile, front room, workplace, and two in my bed room…I really feel like I’ve one in every room.”
Ikuna’s buddy went on to explain the realm the place she lives, which Ikuna drew out for us under. Her buddy lives in a home on the foot of a mountain (the place the arrow factors to under). There are three non-public houses inside strolling distance, and on the best there’s an unlimited expanse of nothing whereas on the left, on the opposite facet of the mountain, is an unsafe neighbourhood, the place an unidentified corpse was discovered a number of years in the past.
Given these circumstances, it appears that evidently it wouldn’t be thought of uncommon for a single girl residing on this space to personal six weapons. What’s extra, she appears to be frightened about the opportunity of stalkers.
Pal: “I don’t know what it’s like in Japan, however the American police don’t act until an incident happens. So, it’s important to shield your self simply in case.”
To be clear, Ikuna’s buddy isn’t a gun fanatic, and he or she thinks that individuals could be higher off in a society with out weapons. She additionally understands that foreigners may be afraid of weapons, so she left her weapons together with her father when Ikuna visited, which Ikuna actually appreciated.
▼One other spherical of drinks, one other revelation.
Ikuna’s buddy ended the dialog by saying:
“Unhealthy guys in America all the time have weapons. That’s why good ladies must have weapons too. It is likely to be laborious for Japanese folks to know, however…you shouldn’t assume America is a scary nation.”
When she heard the sentence, “Unhealthy guys have weapons, so good ladies must have weapons too”, Ikuna felt barely much less petrified of the U.S., and though her buddy owns six weapons, it appears she’s by no means truly fired any of them. If you consider it, all Japanese folks have kitchen knives, and although they may use them to kill or injure folks, only a few folks do.
Her buddy additionally talked about a side of gun possession that had by no means occurred to Ikuna, when she stated: “As soon as you purchase one gun, your senses turn into numb to it, so that you have a tendency to purchase multiple.” That was a sense Ikuna by no means wished to expertise.
In fact, it will be naive to assume that gun possession is a clear-cut difficulty, however after that evening in Asakusa, Ikuna felt like she understood that simply because an individual owns a gun, it doesn’t imply they’re going to make use of it. It goes to point out that once you converse to folks in individual, reasonably than merely following media reviews and the established order, your eyes actually may be opened to an entire new way of life, and even when it doesn’t vibe along with your mind-set, it doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t be pals.
Photographs©SoraNews24
● Need to hear about SoraNews24’s newest articles as quickly as they’re printed? Comply with us on Fb and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]
