Okay, got it. But in my defense, here is bigger snip from lapsody's post, the one I was referring to.

So along with making guns hard to get (you can get shotguns, and while I was there two people were injured by shotguns in the surrounding area), but handguns and rifles are hard to get and they have prescribed safe/chests they must be kept in and they do surprise inspections.

I can see that. But with the caveat that I am not a Japanese lawyer, surprise inspections aren't likely inconsistent with their version of the Fourth Amendment. Trivially, that's the case even here in the U.S. for firearms (and liquor and a few other things), as observed under the SCOTUS case in U.S. v. Biswell (link below).

But even without Biswell (or the Japanese analog), since the Japanese constitution does not have the equivalent of the Second Amendment it's probably okay. Gun ownership there would be legally regarded as a privilege, and it's perfectly permissible to impose consent to a search as a condition of maintaining a license/permit for a privilege. The Fourth Amendment protects you from being required to consent to a search in a criminal proceeding, but in a civil or licensing context you can be required to consent to inspection as a condition of holding the license. That's why they can force you to take a breath or sobriety test upon risk of civil</> penalty of having your driver's license revoked if you refuse. I imagine the same analysis would apply in Japan to firearm licenses.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/406/31...