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an ultra-nationalist who served in the post longer than anyone else before stepping down in 2020, was shot and killed on Friday at a campaign rally.

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Police tackled and arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of an attack that shocked many in Japan 

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which is one of the world's safest nations and has some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere. 

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"It is barbaric and malicious and it cannot be tolerated," current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the media.

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Police say Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, fired two shots at Abe as he was making a political speech in the city of Nara. The first shot missed 

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But the second hit Abe's chest and neck, and despite attempts to revive him he died several hours later. 

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Yamagami was unemployed and a former member of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years, police say 

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and attacked Abe because he believed he was associated with a group Yamagami hated.  

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Multiple handmade guns were later found at Yamagami's home. 

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Multiple handmade guns were later found at Yamagami's home.