Electromagnetic coil gun seized in Japan

With a background in electronics, just looking at that gun, it seems very unlikely it would do more than give someone a bruise.<p>That appears to be a single coil which is chonky as hell, which means you need a high voltage to drive it. It looks like it also only has a single capacitor, the physical size of the which is too small to have enough energy to seriously drive a coil like that.<p>You can find videos on youtube of diy coil guns 5x the size that at best punch holes in 3mm particle board or one side of an aluminum can. There is no way that thing is actually going to kill someone.

So the suspect was arrested for possessing a coilgun, but it was only made illegal this June with the law taking effect in March next year? The timeline doesn&#x27;t make any sense. Other news sources aren&#x27;t helpful as they contain even less information.<p>Above all, how this was legal in Japan until very recently is beyond me. I thought Japan has strict gun controls in place.<p>Edit: Apparently coilguns are categorized as firearms, which is illegal today, if they&#x27;re lethal enough.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;newsdig.tbs.co.jp&#x2F;articles&#x2F;-&#x2F;1563487?display=1" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;newsdig.tbs.co.jp&#x2F;articles&#x2F;-&#x2F;1563487?display=1</a>

ChatGPT translation:<p>&quot;Suspect Arrested for Possession of Electromagnetic Gun &quot;Coilgun,&quot; Manufacturing Video Allegedly Published November 19, 2024, 1:40 PM<p>A 29-year-old suspect has been arrested on suspicion of violating Japan&#x27;s Firearm and Sword Control Law for possessing a deadly electromagnetic gun, commonly referred to as a &quot;coilgun.&quot; Reports indicate that the suspect also uploaded videos showing the manufacturing process to a video-sharing platform. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the details.<p>The arrested individual has been identified as Nobuaki Usui (29), an unemployed resident of Nasu Town in Tochigi Prefecture.<p>According to the police, the suspect is accused of possessing a coilgun, a device that fires projectiles using magnetic force, at his home last month. The weapon falls under the suspicion of violating the Firearm and Sword Control Law.<p>Investigators discovered the videos during a &quot;cyber patrol&quot; and confiscated the content. Upon analysis, it was confirmed that the coilgun had a structure capable of firing live ammunition, making it a potentially lethal weapon.<p>The suspect reportedly stated during questioning, &quot;I made it when I was in high school.&quot;<p>Regarding coilguns, a legal amendment was made in June of this year, and the possession of such devices will generally be prohibited by March next year. The police are currently conducting a free collection campaign, urging individuals to turn in coilguns at their nearest police station.&quot;

If you look at the picture, it’s clearly a labour of love. I’m glad they don’t have this kind of dystopic thought police watching citizen videos where I live

EMG-01 owner here <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;arcflashlabs.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;arcflashlabs.com&#x2F;</a><p>There&#x27;s no way this homemade coilgun has the muzzle velocity to do anything but harm squirrels and similar. This is way overblown.

I imagine this (new) law has something to do with Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated with a homemade gun.

I think the primary benefit of an electromagnetic coil gun in an environment like Japan would be the capability to build one using off the shelf and unmonitored equipment. In the US it would be much easier to generate 3d printed guns, because finding ammunition with gunpowder inside is much easier.<p>The translation of the article is a little rough. It looks like maybe it was used as a curiosity instead of a tool for violence. I suspect actual criminals get along just fine with melee weapons and the occasional smuggled firearm.<p>This whole thing is cool in that it feels very much like a 21st century style crime. It&#x27;s scary because I imagine disassembly would be an effective method of disposing of the murder weapon. In most jurisdictions it&#x27;s possible to get a conviction without a murder weapon but requires more supporting evidence.

Is there a reason firearm manufacturer&#x27;s aren&#x27;t pursuing the creation &#x2F; sale of &#x27;coil guns&#x27; as actual products? I get that you&#x27;re introducing reliance on a battery, but you&#x27;re also gaining (I assume) near silent operation. And most incidents involving a firearm don&#x27;t extend past one or two magazines anyways.<p>Seems to me like a cleaner, more &quot;futuristic&quot; weapon. The &quot;hobby&quot; version of this weapon photographed in the article already looks quite clean.

&quot;accused of possessing a coilgun, a device that fires projectiles using magnetic force&quot;<p>&quot;Upon analysis, it was confirmed that the coilgun had a structure capable of firing live ammunition&quot;<p>One of these is not like the other.

Does this seem lethal to you? If that&#x27;s a big aluminum electrolytic capacitor at the bottom, and those have energy densities around 1-3 J&#x2F;cm3, then I&#x27;d estimate it could hold at most 50-200J. A fired .22 bullet can have an energy around that, so plausible? Efficiencies aren&#x27;t going to be that good though, so maybe not. Any better estimations?

Good grief every house has dozens of solenoids in various appliances that deliver the same punch as that thing. They can all poke a hole through cardboard, and so can a baby with a pencil.

“The killing power is the electromagnetic gun, the gun is held by the gun, the gun is held by the gun, and the 29-year-old blunderbuss is used to tolerate the suspect. The Suspicious Person is produced and written by the anime and distributed by the anime and distributed by the public.”<p>Yeah, we have a long way to go with translations.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www3-nhk-or-jp.translate.goog&#x2F;news&#x2F;html&#x2F;20241119&#x2F;k10014642881000.html?_x_tr_sl=ja&amp;_x_tr_tl=en&amp;_x_tr_hl=en" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www3-nhk-or-jp.translate.goog&#x2F;news&#x2F;html&#x2F;20241119&#x2F;k10...</a><p>Edit: correct link! Thanks child