INSIGHT: Japan bear attacks prompt cities to weigh emergency shooting rules

SENDAI - Japan is known for having some of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Last year, the country gave municipal mayors the power to order emergency bear shootings, but the resulting tensions show just how difficult it is to pull the trigger in crowded neighborhoods.

According to an Environment Ministry tally, the measure, which was enabled last September by a law revision that lifted a longstanding ban on shooting in residential areas, had been used 72 times in 12 prefectures by June -- about 80 percent of these uses in urban areas.