TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) — The man suspected of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a homemade gun on Friday could have made the weapon in a day or two after having materials such as wood and metal pipes available , analysts say.
The attack showed that gun violence cannot be completely eradicated even in a country where tough gun laws mean it is almost unheard of for citizens to buy or own firearms.
There have been some cases in recent years where people have been illegally manufacturing weapons in Japan.  But gun crime is very rare in Japan: last year there were 10 shootings, eight involving gangsters, according to police figures.  One person was killed and four were injured.
“3D-printed weapon-making and bomb-making can be learned today from the Internet from anywhere in the world,” said Mitsuru Fukuda, a Nihon University professor specializing in crisis management and terrorism.
“It can be done in two to three days after obtaining parts such as pipes,” said Fukuda, who analyzed images of the gun used in Abe’s shooting.
Video images showed the attacker shooting Abe with a device that had a pistol grip and what appeared to be two pipes covered in black electrical tape.  Police arrested a 41-year-old man at the scene and said he had admitted to shooting Abe.  The suspect was later identified as Tetsuya Yamagami.
“Anyone with a basic understanding of how guns work could do it with minimal knowledge,” said firearms commentator Tetsuya Tsuda, adding that it may not have taken even half a day to make the gun used in the attack.
Japanese media reported on Saturday that the suspect told investigators he had looked online for instructions on how to make firearms and had ordered parts and gunpowder online as well.
The weapon measured 40 by 20 centimeters (15.7 by 7.9 inches) and was made of materials including metal and wood, officials from the Nara prefectural police told reporters on Friday.
Police did not rule out the possibility that the bullets were also hand-made, but said they were continuing to investigate.
Investigators seized five homemade weapons from Yamagami’s home, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Saturday.
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“Crude, but lethal, artisanal (…) firearms like this are simple to manufacture,” said NR Jenzen-Jones, a weapons and ammunition intelligence specialist at the Australia-based Armaments Research Service.
Pictures of the gun showed an electrical wire running from the cap to the end of each tube.
This indicated the use of an electrical firing mechanism, Jenzen-Jones said.
“The electric start method (…) was probably chosen in this case, as conventional cartridges are much more difficult to obtain in Japan than in many other regions,” he added.
There have been several cases in recent years of people being arrested in Japan for illegally manufacturing firearms.
In 2018, police arrested a 23-year-old man in the western city of Himeji for making a gun and more than 130 bullets at home.  Also that year, police arrested a 19-year-old student in the city of Nagoya for making explosives and a gun with the help of a 3D printer.
In 2014, police arrested a 27-year-old man for illegally possessing 3D-printed weapons in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo.
The issue of illegal weapons manufacturing is not limited to Japan.  For example, officials in Spain found a replica rifle and handguns in a raid on an illegal factory discovered to be producing 3D-printed weapons in April 2021.
The suspect in Abe’s shooting told investigators he had made weapons with three, five and six metal tubes in addition to the one he used in the attack, media reported.
Weapons expert Jenzen-Jones said the weapon used in the incident was at the lower end of the capability spectrum.
“However, it was clearly fatal,” he added.