News US tourist detained for smuggling firearm into Japan unnoticed

[thomas]

I don't know whether to classify this news as "Crime," "General News", or perhaps post it to our Travel section. Or file it under plain stupidity.


A 73-year-old American man, Rand Alan Peterson, was arrested in Kobe last month after allegedly bringing a handgun and ammunition into Japan in his luggage by mistake, passing through airport customs undetected, local police said Wednesday. Authorities believe he arrived at Kansai Airport in Osaka Prefecture from Hawaii on 22 March with the firearm in his suitcase. He was taken into custody on 24 March on suspicion of illegal firearm possession. The incident has raised concerns over airport security screening measures, particularly as Osaka prepares for an influx of international visitors ahead of the World Exposition.

Osaka Customs, which has jurisdiction over customs operations at the airport in Izumisano, declined to comment. According to police, Peterson realized he had brought the handgun, with three bullets in the chamber, in his luggage while at a hotel in Izumisano the morning after he arrived. Later that day, Peterson reported the discovery to an attendant as he was boarding a cruise ship departing from a terminal at Kobe port. The three bullets were found discarded in a trash box at the terminal. Peterson said he put the gun, which he carries for self-defense, into his suitcase by accident, and disposed of the bullets thinking having them together with the gun would constitute a more serious offense.

American arrested after bringing gun into Japan undetected: police - The Mainichi

KOBE (Kyodo) -- An American man was arrested in Kobe last month after he allegedly brought a handgun and ammunition into Japan in his luggage by mista

mainichi.jp

American tourist entered Japan with gun - TokyoReporter

American tourist entered Japan with gun

www.tokyoreporter.com

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I can't imagine forgetting you have a gun in your luggage , but every year TSA in the US finds hundreds of weapons at the airports.

 

[johnnyG]

Maybe the people who missed this are the ones who should be detained?

 

[mdchachi]

I think it's the Americans who missed it. Luggage at the destination is not thoroughly scanned for this sort of thing.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

I'm pretty certain that in the US it is perfectly legal to fly with firearms, provided that they are inside checked baggage. In that sense, the TSA may have noticed it but did nothing about it because they didn't have any reason to.

Remember that when you enter Japan, you have to go through Customs, and it is their responsibility to locate illegal contraband entering the country.

 

[mdchachi]

I'm pretty certain that in the US it is perfectly legal to fly with firearms, provided that they are inside checked baggage. In that sense, the TSA may have noticed it but did nothing about it because they didn't have any reason to.

Remember that when you enter Japan, you have to go through Customs, and it is their responsibility to locate illegal contraband entering the country.

It's illegal not to declare the firearms even in the U.S. But I don't know if the TSA systems are smart enough to notice if there's a firearm that hasn't been declared.

 

[Achilles 1-1]

I wonder if this man genuinely forgot (he is in his 70's to be fair), or if he's just saying that to get out of punishment.




I think it's dumb to not be able to carry arms in Japan. Yes, I get that it lowers gun crimes, but it would greatly restrict home defense, defense in general, and even hunting. Yes, I know that they need to pass all these things to get a gun for hunting, but still, civilians being able to carry guns, or even swords, in the case of a terrorist attack or something like that, civilians could definitely reduce the need for an armed police force response. Like imagine not being able to carry a pocket knife:/. Just my opinions though.

 

[mdchachi]

It's likely he just forgot. To many people in the U.S. it's normal to carry guns. He probably forgot it was in his luggage.

There's not much need for deadly home defense in Japan when the crime rates are so low.

 

[Achilles 1-1]

It's likely he just forgot. To many people in the U.S. it's normal to carry guns. He probably forgot it was in his luggage.

There's not much need for deadly home defense in Japan when the crime rates are so low.

I agree, but one can never be too careful. It seems Japan is going what i like to call "The California democrat route"

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

It's illegal not to declare the firearms even in the U.S. But I don't know if the TSA systems are smart enough to notice if there's a firearm that hasn't been declared.

It sounds like its not the case here, but assuming that he did declare to the TSA upon check-in, would the TSA share that info with the Customs department at the destination country? I have no idea.

I would guess that the TSA has equipment that is capable of discovering an undeclared firearm, but it that's true the question really becomes how thorough they are about inspecting checked baggage. I remember reading once upon a time that the number of bags actually checked was just a small proportion of the overall total. But that was a number of years ago.

 

[mdchachi]

According to this he discovered the gun himself and self-reported it.

According to police, Peterson realized he had brought the handgun, with three bullets in the chamber, in his luggage while at a hotel in Izumisano the morning after he arrived.

Later that day, Peterson reported the discovery to an attendant as he was boarding a cruise ship departing from a terminal at Kobe port. The three bullets were found discarded in a trash box at the terminal.

Peterson said he put the gun, which he carries for self-defense, into his suitcase by accident, and disposed of the bullets thinking having them together with the gun would constitute a more serious offense.

So he absent-mindedly put the gun into his suitcase along with other necessities such as his underwear and shaving kit.
That's quite the pickle. Not sure what would be the best course of action here. Maybe throw the gun in the ocean. He probably won't get it back anyway.
Or try to mail it home. Or just try to keep mum and hope nobody notices the entire trip. At least he might have been able to take the cruise before getting caught at the airport for the return trip.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I was always amazed that you could buy a cap gun/replica gun in Japan identical to the real thing(1970-72). I bought a 1911 style cap gun made of zinc or pot metal. When I got back to Maine I was surprised you could swap the magazine and all parts with a real Colt 1911 , the toy was so accurate. When you fired the cap gun , smoke and flame came out the end of the barrel making it seem almost real. The caps that came with it seemed larger then regular caps.
As a side note. I noticed when TSA ran luggage through a conveyor belt X-ray machine , they seemed to pay little attention to it and would be talking with each other instead of watching. I also thought it was interesting when they swabbed my suitcase for explosives , nothing showed. When at camp , I tossed used shells/brass in my suitcase all the time and often had gunpowder all over the inside. I thought sure it would test positive , but it didn't. Maybe ti was a test for C-4?

 

[mdchachi]

I was always amazed that you could buy a cap gun/replica gun in Japan identical to the real thing(1970-72). I bought a 1911 style cap gun made of zinc or pot metal. When I got back to Maine I was surprised you could swap the magazine and all parts with a real Colt 1911 , the toy was so accurate. When you fired the cap gun , smoke and flame came out the end of the barrel making it seem almost real. The caps that came with it seemed larger then regular caps.
As a side note. I noticed when TSA ran luggage through a conveyor belt X-ray machine , they seemed to pay little attention to it and would be talking with each other instead of watching. I also thought it was interesting when they swabbed my suitcase for explosives , nothing showed. When at camp , I tossed used shells/brass in my suitcase all the time and often had gunpowder all over the inside. I thought sure it would test positive , but it didn't. Maybe ti was a test for C-4?

Good point. My son bought an Airsoft handgun last summer in Tokyo and it's very much like a real gun. It could easily get him killed in the U.S. if he brandished it on the streets or pointed it at a cop. We were worried about how the airport might react but there was not a peep. Although I can't be sure they didn't open our luggage and take a look at it. Still, I think there's a good chance that if the guy had just left it in his luggage it may have made its way back to the U.S. without incident.

 

[Majestic]

throw the gun in the ocean

Having read this article and gone through the scenarios in my mind, that's exactly what I would do.

 

[mdchachi]

Having read this article and gone through the scenarios in my mind, that's exactly what I would do.

That's what I was thinking but it wouldn't be that easy. Even though he was going to the port to get on a cruise ship, he probably wouldn't be that close to the waterfront. He could wait until he's on the ship BUT they have luggage scanners when boarding cruise ships so there's a chance it could get found at that time. He could just throw it in the trash but if it's found it could be traced back to him. But yeah if it was me, I'd probably find a way to the waterfront.

 

[Ukigumo]

I have a friend who had a beautiful katana forged for him by Enomoto Sadohito, a noted, prize-winning swordsmith from a noted swordsmith family (Mishima City), back in 2016. His fear was it would, at best received a huge import tax and worse and more likely, be seized by Border Force/Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and subsequently destroy it on arrival to the U.K. His friend and 'sword broker' said he'd go and pick it up and bring it back as he had six times before. He put it in an over-the-shoulder sword bag (they look like rifle bags) , flew out of Narita (I think) to Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris), casually walked through the airport with it slung over his shoulder, flew on to London Heathrow and then finally to Edinburgh airport. He wasn't stopped once, questioned about what he had or quizzed when it was X-rayed. Nobody queried what he had. Is this good security? I'm scared to carry nail clippers through airports.

I know of someone who did the same thing last January (2025).

 

[Petaris]

I don't know whether to classify this news as "Crime," "General News", or perhaps post it to our Travel section. Or file it under plain stupidity.

Maybe they were too busy making him take off his shoes and throw out his water bottle to notice?

 

[johnnyG]

I think it's the Americans who missed it. Luggage at the destination is not thoroughly scanned for this sort of thing.

Sure, and since this is a flight from the US customs here probably had their guard down. I'll speculate that inbound arrival bags from say, SE asia, are screened more carefully. When I returned from vietnam some years ago (into our local airport since I'd gone from there thru incheon), I was pulled aside and while they didn't dump it open and go thru everything, one fellow used something like wet tissues to probe the contents several times, likely for the chemical signature(s) of something. (cheaper/easier than maintaining a dog?)

 

[Ukigumo]

Those wipes are used to collect explosive residues. They're later placed in a machine for analysis!