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After Mass Shootings, Other Nations Issue Caution About 'Gun Society' in U.S.

Earlier this week, Japan alerted its citizens in the U.S. to beware of "gunfire incidents," while Uruguay issued a travel warning citing the "indiscriminate possession of firearms" in America.
Scott Neuman
The names of the shooting victims adorn a makeshift memorial near the Cielo Vista Mall and Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. Saturday's shooting left 22 people dead. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

Japan’s foreign ministry is cautioning its citizens who reside in the United States to be alert to “the potential for gunfire incidents” after a spate of mass shootings in recent days.

The concern came as at least two other nations – Uruguay and Venezuela — issued travel warnings for the U.S. in the wake of shootings in Gilroy; Dayton, Ohio; and El Paso, Texas. A total of nearly three dozen people were killed and more than 60 people were injured.

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“Japanese residents should be aware of the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United States, a gun society, and continue to pay close attention to safety measures,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted earlier this week on the website of Japan’s consulate-general in Detroit.

On Monday, Uruguay’s foreign ministry issued a statement warning its citizens traveling in the U.S. “to take precautions against growing indiscriminate violence, mostly for hate crimes, including racism and discrimination.”

It cautioned travelers to avoid places with large gatherings of people and cited “the impossibility of the authorities to prevent these situations, due among other factors, to the indiscriminate possession of firearms by the population.”

Meanwhile, Venezuela has issued a similar caution for its citizens to postpone travel to the U.S. or to take precautions, “given the proliferation of acts of violence and crimes of indiscriminate hatred.”

The U.S. State Department frequently issues travel advisories for other countries, warning U.S. citizens to avoid travel to places with incidents of terrorism or lawlessness.

Although overseas travel to the U.S. has rebounded slightly since it took a dip in 2016, monthly data from the National Travel and Tourism Office show that from January through May of this year, overseas travel to the U.S., including from Canada and Mexico, has dropped by an average of 2.2%.

The biggest declines come from countries in South America and Africa.

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