RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday, February, 4th, that he is not afraid of an armed people because that prevents a ruler from becoming a dictator. He also announced that he is preparing new measures in favor of access to arms by civilians.
“Next week there will be more decrees on weapons because weapons are a right of yours,” said Bolsonaro to hundreds of people at the inauguration of a high-performance sports center in the city of Cascavel in Paraná state.
“I’m not afraid of an armed people, because that prevents a ruler from becoming a dictator and I feel very comfortable alongside an upstanding citizen who is armed,” he added.
Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019 and since then has promoted several measures to foster society’s “self-defense” against the rise in crime.
Many of these measures, which ease civilians’ access to guns and ammunition, have been either modified or even overturned by Congress or the courts, but Bolsonaro has implied that he has not given up.
The head of state praised the new cooperation of powers in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, which this week elected their governing boards, with both now presided by legislators linked to the government, which may have a decisive influence on legislative votes.
The President also reiterated that he will insist that Congress pass the “defense of lawfulness,” a legal provision that would prevent a police officer who kills a criminal in the course of his duties from being brought to trial, regardless of suspected abuses.
The proposal was included in a package of anti-crime measures referred by the government to Congress in 2019. However, Congress decided to exclude this point from the legislation, strongly rejected by human rights organizations, as Brazil’s police forces are among the most violent in the world.
“An on-duty police officer must have guarantees, as he is the head of the family, a worker, and after serving his duties he can’t receive a visit from a court official in his home,” the President said.
“If he’s armed in the street it’s because we gave him the weapons,” emphasized Bolsonaro, reiterating that he will insist on this bill throughout the new legislative year, inaugurated on Wednesday.