Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (May 13, 1994)

2-(3) Abolition of Possession License Based on the Guns and Swords Law for Automated Nailers which use gas explosive power

1. Complainant: Embassy of the United States

2. Ministry concerned: National Police Agency

3. Complaint:

Products for industry use such as automated nailers are subject to the regulation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law (hereafter referred to as the "Guns and Swords Law") should be determined, after examination in the light of the purpose of the Law to prevent danger and harm, in proportion to their firing power, capacity to wound or kill, or whether they are likely to be used as a weapon to commit a crime (portability in particular).

The National Police Agency has determined that U.S.-made automated nailers which use gas explosive power fall under the category of air guns (including those using compressed gas) under the "gun" classification of items regulated under the Guns and Swords Law.

On the other hand, from their functional conditions in time of use, The National Police Agency has determined that automated nailers using compressed air do not come under the air gun classification, because N.P.A considers that the automated nailers using compressed air require an electric outlet at all times, and are connected by a hose to separate air compressors which may be available for various purposes, therefore there is little risk of their being used by criminals to commit crimes.

Persons intending to own automated nailers subject to the Guns and Swords Law must apply for registration, in case of dealers, or possession license, in case of industrial users, to the prefectural Public Safety Commission, according to the procedures and by the application forms required by the law and the related ordinance.

When importing or selling U.S.-made automated nailers which use gas explosive power, applicants are required to have a possession license under the Guns and Swords Law. Since application procedures are complicated and granting of license takes a number of days, this constitutes a barrier to entry into the Japanese market. Japan is the only country to have such a regulation among those to which the U.S. exports such products and the complainant believes that this regulation should be abolished or eased as described below.

(1) The product in question, compared to automated nailers using compressed air which are widely manufactured and used in Japan and which do not fall under the Guns and Swords Law, has less capacity to wound or kill and is equipped with a superior safety mechanism, and should therefore be exempt from regulation under the said law.

(2) If the product cannot be exempted from regulation, current procedures for possession license are too strict and should be relaxed.

4. Results of deliberation:

Whether to apply the Guns and Swords Law to respective automated nailers must be determined carefully depending on the possibility of criminal use of such items, and taking into consideration the national consensus on gun possession. The item in question, while it is equipped with a safety mechanism, can easily be fired in the air, and since it is very portable, there is a substantial risk that it can be used as a weapon in crimes. Accordingly, it is inappropriate to remove it from the controls of the Guns and Swords Law at the present time.

On the other hand, continual technical improvements being made on its portability contributes in general to the user's convenience and greater industrial productivity. The issue of whether the item should continue to be regulated should be reexamined from the viewpoint of possible use as a weapon, in case there is some development in the future of its safety mechanism to prevent firing in the air.

Regarding the current procedures for obtaining a possession license, these should be improved, by simplifying requirements and such. The agency concerned will issue a directive to all prefectural police headquarters to carry out improvement listed below (para 1-9) by the end of May 1994 as target time, and will disseminate information regarding relaxed license application procedures, in order to lighten as much as possible the burden on dealers and users under the present system.

(1) The type of documents required will be standardized nationwide while different documents are required by respected prefectures.

(2) At the time of application, documents mentioned in 1) above will be confined to those mentioned in the law and the related ordinance. When any additional documents are needed in the course of examination of the application, these should be kept to a minimum, and such cases will be limited in case where it seems necessary to prevent harm.

(3) Dealers will be allowed to present application, when based on a power of attorney completed by the person applying for possession license.

(4) Sales clerks employed by dealers already registered with the Prefectural Public Safety Commission are allowed to give a demonstration for sales promotion purposes, and this point will be disseminated.

(5) When registering employees capable of using the item under the supervision of the possession license holder, there is no restriction on the number of users to be registered, and this point will be disseminated.

(6) The time needed for permit procedures will be shortened as much as possible.

(7) Changes in employees registered as capable of using the item under the supervision of the possession license holder must be reported, but the change will be processed in a much shorter time than the initial application.

(8) Procedures will be simplified and processing time shortened in issuing license allowing the use of an alternate nailer in case of breakdowns, de facto, by simple verification of the alternate machine and the user.

(9) The standards concerning storage will be standardized nationwide, while it differs by respective prefecture.

Government decision (June 24, 1994)

2-(3) Improvement of the possession license system for automatic nail guns

It is inappropriate to remove automatic nail guns with gas explosive power on the subject of this complaint from the controls of the Guns and Swords Law at the present time. In the future, after safety mechanisms are developed, the issue of whether the item should continue to be regulated, from the viewpoint of probability of being used as a weapon, will be reviewed appropriately.

For the convenience of users and sellers of automatic nail guns, the possession license system was improved by the directive issued to Prefectural Police Headquarters nationwide at June 10, 1994: the improvement included the standardization of the documents required for examination, allowing a proxy to present application, and allowing the use of an alternate machine through a simplified application procedure.

Follow-up (June 5, 1995)

2-(3) Abolition of Possession Licenses Based on the Guns and Swords Law for Automated Nailers Using Gas Explosive Power

All measures mentioned in the report - standardizing forms to be submitted for examination, allowing applications with a power of attorney, introducing a simple procedure to allow use of an alternate nailer in case of breakdowns, etc., and others - were implemented, following a directive to all prefectural police headquarters issued in June 1994, in order to lighten the burden on dealers and users.

Regarding automated nailers which use gas explosive power, since this item can be used as a weapon, the issue of whether it should continue to be controlled under the Guns and Swords Law will be reviewed appropriately, after safety mechanisms are developed.