USA TODAY The claim: The Japanese didn't invade the US mainland after Pearl Harbor because they feared armed Americans Pushing back against U.S. attempts to limit Japan's aggressive expansion, Japan launched a surprise attack on the nation's westernmost outpost. Though the air attack inflicted heavy losses, the Japanese military did not advance to the U.S. mainland. A lengthy Facebook post claims fear over private gun ownership in the states is what stopped that invasion. "After the Japanese decimated our fleet in Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941, they could have sent their troop ships and carriers directly to California to finish what they started," says a June 28, 2020, Facebook post that has found renewed life online a year later. "After the war, the remaining Japanese generals and admirals were asked that question. Their answer....they know that almost every home had guns and the Americans knew how to use them."