[2] Since then, control on guns became increasingly strict for civilians, leading to a number of revisions and new laws during the Meiji Restoration.
[2] The initial law was enacted in 1958 with the stated purpose of "safety regulations necessary for the prevention of harm related to the possession and use of firearms and swords".
[2] Major revisions include the addition of a ban on importation and raising the age to own a hunting rifle in 1965, and tighter restrictions on shotguns and the shortening of acceptable double-edged blades and daggers to 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in) in response to attacks in 2008.
[3] The effect on organized crime is that Yakuza syndicates still employ Walther P38 and Tokarev pistols from the 20th century, mainly smuggled in from China, Russia and North Korea.
[citation needed] The cheap cost of such antiquated guns (compared to the high cost of more modern guns on the black market), as well as the Yakuza's cultural preference for traditional Japanese swords,[clarification needed] explain their continued reliance on the aforementioned handgun models.