Fmr Japanese PM Shinzo Abe appears to have been shot with a craft-produced ('privately made') firearm, most likely a smoothbore design chambering shotgun cartridges or similar low-pressure rounds. Significant smoke at the scene may indicate reloaded or craft-produced cartridges.
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Access to ammunition is tightly controlled in Japan. Whilst shotgun cartridges are easier to obtain than rifle or handgun cartridges, controls are still very strict and live rounds are much more difficult to obtain than in many other countries with restrictive firearms laws.
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The prominent end caps towards the rear of the barrels may indicate a muzzle-loading design using separate-loading propellant and projectiles. Of course, it is too early to be definitive.
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This is very likely to be a classic 'if you can't get it, make it yourself' scenario—a primary driver of craft-produced firearms acquisition.
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To reiterate, it's still too early to be definitive on any of this—these are just my initial impressions. A less likely design (e.g., breech-loading, electrically initiated 3D-printed or modified cartridges, ECM-rifled barrels, etc.) remains a possibility.
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