Do We Need Second Amendment?

Kanagawa Regional Police arrested a college office worker with suspicion of manufacturing guns made by 3D printer. One question was whether they were guns. Police realized it as guns because they could kill people, while the man did not admit. The arrested man boasted that the guns were needed to protect weak women. Whether or not the man is “a well regulated militia,” it is a matter of the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which approves people’s right of possessing arms.

According to Wikipedia, 3D printer is “a limited type of industrial robot that is capable of carrying out an additive process under computer control.” Although it is unclear which 3D printer he used, the arrested man made guns from plastic fiber, the material that will not be detected by security censor installed in airports, for example. He obtained design draft from a webpage in U.S., and he thought he could make guns better.

The man tested his handguns and they could strike through wooden walls. He uploaded the video of his shooting and appealed to spread his technology of producing 3D printing guns. “Possessing guns is a basic human right” and “To protect people from violence, Japan need to approve guns” were some of his appeal on twitter. He sharply criticized Guns and Swords Regulation Act as “nothing but a crazy law.”

It is highly unlikely for Japan to admit gun possession. Different from America that achieved independence with arms, Japan introduced freedom through denouncing force after the World War II. Possessing guns only produces another violence in its society. It is not a matter of human rights, but of maintenance of social safety. This kind of ignorance of basic principle in society is a typical phenomenon of internet freaks.

So simple was circuit inside brain of politicians. Ministers of Abe Shinzo Cabinet stated the necessity of stricter regulation for assault guns. However, 3D printing is used in various area of industries, such as artificial tooth and bone, parts of train and airplane, or musical instrument. Further regulations will harm industrial top runners, disturbing Abe’s economic agenda for sustainable growth.

As long as 3D printing is said to contribute to another “industrial revolution,” the government cannot completely regulate the technology. Even introducing license, banning copy of design or censoring on suspicious people might not be working well. If there is something the government can do for it, it should be removing frustration of people against social situation. Social justice would be a key.