RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil saw the number of firearms in the hands of civilians double in only three years: an arsenal of at least one gun for every 100 Brazilians. There are 2,077,126 in the hands of civilians, including police and military officers’ personal weapons.
In 2020 alone, 186,071 new weapons were registered, an increase of 97.1% over the year before. In Alagoas, the growth in the number of new gun registrations reached 691% from one year to the next, a trend followed – albeit to a lesser extent – by the remaining states.
On the other hand, the weapons control mechanisms seem weakened. In 2019 the Brazilian Army destroyed 125,860 illegal weapons, compared to only 62,366 in 2020. A reduction of 50.4%. The data are from the Brazilian Public Safety Forum (FBSP) 2021 yearbook, released on Thursday.
FEELINGS OF POWERLESSNESS CAN LEAD TO VIOLENCE
Members of the Brazilian Public Safety Forum link the increase in gun ownership to president Jair Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and policies.
However, it may very well be that due to the covid-related coercive measures and the resulting disenfranchisement of citizens, many Brazilians simply wanted to feel that they had still control at least over something and therefore bought weapons.
Anti-gun advocates argue that the increase in homicide observed in 2020 must be directly linked to the increase in gun ownership. This line of argument, however, conveniently forgets that not only gun-related homicides have increased during the Covid turmoil, but also brutality and violence by husbands against their wives and non-gun-related violence against women in general.
Take away a man’s dignity and independence and make him feel useless and not needed and you reap uproar.
Something many governments will likely have to learn in the coming months.