All firearms in Japan are registered, and obtaining a permit to own a gun is a very difficult process, that requires many classes and a written test, and many hours of training. A mental health exam is done for the applicant, and extensive background checks on the applicant and their family members is done as well. Membership in "aggressive" political groups or activist groups will disqualify an applicant, and the police have unlimited discretion to deny licenses to any person if they have any reason to believe the person could be dangerous in any way.

Each gun is then registered with the police. The firearm must be kept in a special locker in the house and only the registered owner is to know where the key is. The ammunition is to be kept in a separate locker, and each registration permit only allows for the purchase of 4000 rounds of ammunition, beyond that another permit is needed to buy more.

Police also are given a map of the house or apartment and where the safes are located. Police are allowed to come and view or search for the weapons whenever they wish, although they do give a day or more of warning, to avoid "false police" from impersonating them and stealing firearms. Citizens are allowed to deny a search if they were not given this warning, but this is the only exception, otherwise police are allowed to search whenever they desire.

The only weapons civilians are allowed to get licensed for are shotguns for sport or hunting, and CO2 powered air guns. Air Soft is the most popular brand of these: they fire large plastic bullets, either round or shaped like a real bullet. These guns are designed to look like real firearms, and nearly any type of "real" firearm can be bought as an Air Soft gun. Handguns of any sort are illegal, as are rifles. There are some licensed rifles still in civilian hands, but they are illegal to transfer to anyone else, so when the license owner died, the family must turn the weapons over to the police.

The number of licensed shotguns and air rifles in all of Japan was 652,000 in 1981 and declined to 493,373 in 1989, due in large part to few citizens finding it worthwhile to go through the long licensing process. In Tokyo, there are only 59,000 licensed gun owners, out of the total population of 29+ million. Armed robbery and murder are both such rare crimes that any event of them usually makes national news.

The police only carry a .38 revolver on duty, and do not carry any firearm at any other time. They do not carry a second handgun as "backup." Firearms are always left at the station after their shift. Desk-bound administrators, traffic police, most plainclothes detectives, and even the riot police do not carry guns. The police more often use their training in Judo and Kendo than firearms. They spend 60 hours on firearms training, 90 on Judo, and 90 on Kendo during police school. Shooting at a fleeing felon is against the law in any circumstance; police and civilians can be punished for any act of self-defense in which the harm caused was greater than the harm averted. In the average year the Tokyo police only fires about 6 times.

Chart for firearms is in WOD p. 169. Gaining weapons illegally requires high levels of Allies.

All Air Soft weapons are similar to their real counterpart, but do 0 Damage, and is Bashing and not Lethal, even at point blank range. Their range is 10/20/30 for the pistols and 15/30/45 for the rifles, and all have clips of 15 or 30 for the round ammunition, or equal to their real counterpart for "realistic" plastic bullets.