Abe was shot dead Friday in the city of Nara while delivering a campaign speech, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
Armed violence is extremely rare in Japan.
In 2018, Japan, a country of 125 million people, reported only nine deaths from firearms, compared to 39,740 that year in the United States, according to data compiled by the University’s Sydney School of Public Health of Sydney.
Nancy Snow, Japan director of the International Security Council, said the shooting would change Japan forever.
“Not only is it weird, but it’s really culturally unfathomable,” he told CNN. “The Japanese people can’t imagine having a gun culture like the one we have in the United States. This is a wordless moment. I really feel wordless.”
According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, citing police, the suspect in Friday’s shooting is a local man in his 40s, who used a handmade gun.
Under Japanese firearms laws, the only weapons allowed for sale are shotguns and air rifles; pistols are prohibited. But getting them is a long and complicated process that requires effort and a lot of patience.
To obtain a firearms license, prospective buyers must attend a class throughout the day, pass a written test and a shooting range test with an accuracy of at least 95%. They should also undergo a mental health assessment and drug testing, as well as a rigorous background check, including a review of their criminal history, personal debts, involvement in organized crime, and relationships with family and friends.
After obtaining a handgun, the owner must register his weapon with the police and provide details of where the weapon and ammunition are stored, in separate, closed compartments. The gun must be inspected by police once a year, and gun owners must return to class and take an exam every three years to renew the license.
Restrictions have kept the number of private arms owners in Japan extremely low.
In 2017, an estimated 377,000 weapons were detained by civilians in Japan, in a country of 125 million people. That was 0.25 guns per 100 people, compared to about 120 guns per 100 people in the United States, according to the Small Arms Survey, a project of the Geneva Postgraduate Institute for International Studies and Development .
The last known public shooting of a politician in Japan was in 2007, when Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Ito was shot at least twice in the back by a suspected gangster. He died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Since then, Japan has tightened arms controls, imposing more severe punishments for gun crimes committed by members of organized crime gangs.
According to the review, having a gun as part of an organized crime syndicate can carry up to 15 years in prison; owning more than one weapon is also a crime, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Meanwhile, firing a gun in a public space can lead to life imprisonment.