• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, January 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Experts Warn Bolsonaro’s Gun Decree Will Fuel Deadly Violence

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
05/09/19
in Featured, World
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Truckers, lawyers and politicians are among millions of Brazilians eligible to carry loaded weapons in public under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro‘s decree relaxing gun laws that experts say is unconstitutional and will fuel deadly violence.

Bolsonaro, whose tough-on-crime rhetoric helped get him elected last year, signed the controversial order on Tuesday, but the full text was only released Wednesday showing a wide range of professions, including hunters, farmers, and even certain journalists, are now allowed to carry their guns on the street or at work.

The ex-army captain defended the move as honoring the result of a 2005 referendum in which nearly 64 percent of Brazilians rejected a law that included, among other things, a total ban on the sale of arms.

But experts warned the loosening of restrictions would fuel gun violence in a country which already has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Brazil recorded 64,000 murders in 2017 – a rate of almost 31 per 100,000 inhabitants, or three times higher than the level the United Nations classifies as endemic violence.

“We can expect an increase in this death toll,” said Ivan Marques, executive director of the Sou de Paz Institute, which campaigns against violence.

“We calculate that more than 20 million people are now allowed to carry weapons around. It’s the worst thing that could happen to Brazil right now.”

The decree also allows licensed gun owners to buy up to 5,000 rounds of ammunition a year, depending on the type of weapon, compared with the current limit of 50.

“Brazilians will be allowed to own up to four firearms without requiring formal clearance from the federal police,” said Robert Muggah, research director at the Igarape Institute think tank in Rio de Janeiro

That would be 20,000 rounds per person, he added.

"These are dangerous times in Brazil. Either society stands up and restrains the president’s unacceptable impulses, or what is being swallowed up as a bad joke will poison our country." #Bolsonaro #Brazil #Fascismhttps://t.co/6BJl0b9zlT

— Common Dreams (@commondreams) May 9, 2019

And the decree makes it easier to import weapons and ammunition – long demanded by global manufacturers and fans of foreign brands.

This “represents one of the most dramatic shifts in Brazilian firearms policy in decades,” Muggah said.

Various political parties and activist groups are planning to challenge the order in the Supreme Court.

One of their arguments is that the decree is unconstitutional because it creates a new law, rather than modifies an existing one.


More Arms Begets Crimes 

“These measures will fatally undermine public security,” warned Muggah.

“This is in direct violation of the 2003 firearms regulation that prohibits carrying.”

Brazilians are allowed to own firearms if they meet certain criteria. But these weapons are restricted to homes, shooting ranges and – for those who have a license, Muggah said.

Bolsonaro has spoken in favor of allowing people to carry guns on the streets, but that requires the support of Congress to change the law.

“We went to the limit of the law. We did not go over the law,” Bolsonaro said Tuesday after signing the decree in front of beaming members of Congress and industry lobbyists who clapped and made pistol signs with their hands.

Foreign and domestic arms makers have been hoping that Bolsonaro’s rise to power would translate into looser laws and greater government spending in the sector.

But experts warned the new rules would lead to more legal weapons and ammunition ending up in the hands of criminal gangs, which already terrorize swathes of Brazil’s major cities.

They also fear an uptick in deadly violence at bars or in road-rage incidents if gun owners are carrying their weapons.

Multiple studies around the world have shown that “more arms means more crimes and more homicides,” said Daniel Cerqueira, an advisor for the Brazilian Forum of Public Security.

Even gun enthusiasts who do not work in the professions mentioned in Bolsonaro’s decree could easily qualify simply by registering as a hunter, sports shooter or collector – known by the Portuguese acronym CAC.

“It’s pretty easy for any citizen to register as a CAC,” said Caio Pizetta Torres, a security specialist at Control Risks in Sao Paulo.

“We are talking about expanding (the right to carry guns) to people who are not really used to or don’t have the culture of using firearms.”


More on the Subject 

Trump Cements Alliance With Far-Right Brazilian President Bolsonaro

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with the police during a demonstration
World

Brazil Patrols Government Buildings Retaken From Rioting Bolsonaro Supporters

by Staff Writer
January 9, 2023
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro
Opinion

The Murder of Art in Brazil

by Luciano de Castro
November 5, 2021
razilian President Jair Bolsonaro delivers a speech
Featured

Bolsonarism, Necropolitics, and the Spores of Wickedness

by Luciano de Castro
October 26, 2021
Covid-19 in Brazil
Featured

No Pandemic End in Sight With Raging Outbreaks in India, Brazil

by Staff Writer
May 1, 2021
Portland police officers fire at protesters from Portland City Hall, Portland, Oregon, Aug. 25, 2020.
National

FBI Worried About Clashes Between Violent Groups Before US Vote

by Staff Writer
September 18, 2020
Indigenous people from the Parque das Tribos community mourn at the death of Chief Messias of the Kokama tribe
Environment

Pandemic and Persecution: The Double Threat Facing Brazil’s Indigenous

by Delaney Murray
August 26, 2020
Next Post
The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

Europe Feels Powerless as US Faces Off Against Iran

People wave LGBTI rights' movement rainbow flags during the gay pride rally in Saint Petersburg

Chasing Rainbows: Some Country’s LGBTI Fight Not Just for Equality, but Survival

Recommended

The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023
Police work near the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

California Lunar New Year Mass Shooter Dead, Motive Unclear: Police

January 23, 2023
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Race on To Replace Ardern as New Zealand Prime Minister

January 20, 2023
Pfizer logo and vaccines

Pfizer to Sell More Drugs at Cost to Poor Nations

January 18, 2023
Rescuers inspect the wreckage at the site of a Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara, Nepal

At Least 67 Killed in Nepal Plane Crash

January 16, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023

Opinion

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post