Worldwide coverage of the mass murder in Akihabara has continued for days. It is a horrible incident, perhaps made more newsworthy because such things are relatively rare in modern Japan. Many journalists still seem especially shocked since gun control laws are relatively strict in Japan---nothing really to do with this incident, but many still mention that fact.

Could it be that this guy was one of those individuals who for whatever reason is prone to taking out his problems on others and all the laws/therapy in the world still couldn't stop him. Much of his behavior seems to parallel that of other modern mass murderers elsewhere in the world. The concern is that there are others like him who will be inspired by his act and resulting "fame" and will elect to try to do the same or worse. If we can do something to stop this kind of person---and we'll never stop them all---it will take much more than tweaking laws on the type/size of knife people can have. That is almost certainly a total waste of time, but it gives the appearance of doing something when nobody really knows what to do.