Osaka prefectural police arrested a 67-year-old unemployed man at his public housing flat in Konohana Ward, Osaka, on suspicion of possessing a revolver and live ammunition, and are also investigating whether he fired it indoors.
Police announced the arrest on Tuesday. They did not disclose whether he admits or denies the charge.
According to the prefectural police's fourth investigation section, the man was caught in the act on October 21 with one revolving-cylinder pistol in a room of the municipal housing block where he lives.
A forensic examination later matched nine live rounds seized at the same time to the gun. Police are now questioning him on suspicion of aggravated possession under the Swords and Firearms Control Law.
Firing suspicion
Police sent the case to prosecutors again on November 10 over suspected violations of the Explosives Control Law. They allege that between early August and late September he wrapped the pistol in a cushion and fired live rounds into a bed at the flat.
“I wanted to check whether it was real, so I fired it at home”the man told investigators, according to the prefectural police, suspect
Officers began investigating after receiving information that the man had a gun. A search of the flat on October 21 turned up the pistol and ammunition in a closet, along with a cushion with a hole in it.
A bullet head believed to have been fired was later found lodged in a board of the bed.
Police are looking into how he obtained the pistol and why he kept it.