Japan’s worst mass murder in almost two decades highlights what we’ve said for decades. People with a grudge will always find a way to inflict carnage on innocent victims.
If a person with evil intent wants to kill people, no laws will stop them.
This time, it was a 41-year-old man with a criminal record and mental health issues who dumped two 20 litre gas cans on the stairs of a building occupied by a Japanese animation company and lit the gasoline on fire.
Flames erupted, sealing off the main entrance, trapping dozens of employees inside. When firefighters finally doused the flames, they discovered 34 people dead inside the burned-out husk of the brick building, 20 of them trapped on the stairs leading to the roof.
They couldn’t get the door open and died of smoke inhalation just feet from fresh air, their lives lost because of a locked roof exit.
And the motive for this horrific killing?
The confessed killer says the animation studio stole his novel. There is no evidence to support his claim, yet he chose to murder as many employees of the company as possible in retaliation for the alleged slight.
“It sounds like the man who did it wanted to die. If he wanted to die, he should have died alone. Why did he have to involve other people? He is a terrible person,” said 78-year-old Kazuko Yoshidai, who lives near the studio.
Where there’s a will to perform evil, human beings will always find a way.
Contrary to myths promoted by those with a political agenda, Canada’s worst mass murder was not committed with a gun. It was three stupid young men who lit the blaze that killed 37 people at Montreal’s Bluebird Café in 1972.ii
Angry at being prevented from entering the premises, these three angry drunks poured gasoline on a staircase of the Blue Bird Café and lit it on fire. Like the Japanese anime studio, the Blue Bird had a single entrance and exit.
Like the Montreal arsonists, the Japanese murderer chose to kill dozens of innocent people in a fit of rage.
Will Japan now ban gasoline? Or limit purchases to a single 20-litre container? Not likely. They will hold the murder accountable for his actions.
Had the Blue Bird Café arson occurred today, the result in Canada would be similar. We would not hold the gas station accountable for the murderer’s horrific actions, nor would we claim the manufacturer of gas containers was somehow responsible for the carnage.
We reserve such absurdities for disgruntled or deranged people who use a gun.
Only then are the actions of the human being ignored in favour of penalizing the item they used to commit their horrors.
Will we learn our lesson and hold people accountable for what they do, regardless of the tool they use? Probably not.
There are far too many political agendas fueled by such nonsense.
Sources:
i https://japantoday.com/category/crime/More-details-emerge-about-anime-studio-arson-attack-that-killed-33
RCMP Safe Cities Project Targets Newfoundland Gun Owners