Should Brazil liberalize gun ownership and carrying? Experts criticize Bolsonaro decrees

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The broadening of gun ownership and carrying regulations was one of President Jair Bolsonaro’s main campaign promises, and since his inauguration in January 2019 his government has issued over 30 decrees and ordinances on the topic. The most recent were published last month, on the eve of Carnaval, with a number of changes that facilitate access to firearms in Brazil.

The decrees led to a debate involving the Legislature, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and society in general. Furthermore, the number of registered firearms in Brazil has increased by 65% in the last two years, which means that there are 1.1 million legal weapons in the hands of citizens. But should Brazil free guns?

Who can own a gun in Brazil?

The country has a number of regulations to define who can possess and carry firearms, differentiating between possession and carrying. The most important one is Law #10.826, published in December 2003, which became known as the Disarmament Statute.

“The statute marks the beginning of a modern phase of gun and ammunition control policy in Brazil. Together with other ordinances and decrees, it establishes a framework aimed at creating a restrictive law, which authorizes the sale, registration and carrying of weapons, but subject to requirements and justifications,” says Felippe Angeli, advocacy manager of Sou da Paz Institute.

The law establishes criteria for registering a firearm, such as being over 25 years of age, having no criminal record, submitting a psychological certificate and proving technical aptitude and the need for use.

According to the law, public security professionals, intelligence agents, prison guards and agents, tax auditors, and private security agents on duty are allowed to carry guns (in other words, leave the house with them). Civilians, with few exceptions, are banned from carrying weapons in public.

What was decided in the referendum?

When it was passed, the Disarmament Statute provided for two measures: a voluntary weapons surrender campaign and a referendum. The Disarmament Campaign was conducted between 2004 and 2005 and collected over 400,000 firearms nationwide. The guns were later destroyed by the Army.

The referendum occurred in 2005, when voters had to answer the question: Should sales of firearms and ammunition be forbidden in Brazil? The “no” vote won with almost 64%.

“Many people say that the referendum was not heeded, which is a lie. The law was not rejected, because that was not the question. The ‘no’ was about banning the sale of guns,” explains Ilona Szabó, co-founder and CEO of Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think tank focusing on violence studies.

The sale, therefore, continued to be authorized, respecting the criteria for registering ownership with the Federal Police, as stated in the statute currently in force.

Did the Statute succeed in reducing homicides?

According to the 2015 Violence Map, the Statute was responsible for saving 160,036 lives since its enactment in 2003. For the calculation, experts considered the average 7.8% per year increase in the number of firearm homicides between 1993 and 2003. Between 2004 and 2014, with the law in force, the average increase rate stood at 2.2%.

“Historically, the gun control banner comes from a global agenda in the 2000s, which showed the high number of homicides in countries in Latin America and Africa, which were not at war but had high rates of gun violence,” Szabó says.

Do guns increase safety?

Retired philosophy professor Denis Rosenfield of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul argues that if the police can’t handle crime, having a gun at home would be a form of individual protection. “What do you do if a thief comes into your home? Families should simply be free to choose whether or not they want to have a gun for such eventualities,” he says.

On the other hand, those who support disarmament say that this is not an effective measure either. “The data show that the efficiency of the armed reaction is low; on the contrary, it tends to increase the risk of a more aggressive attack by criminals,” says the manager of Sou da Paz.

In a report prepared by expert organizations, the UN (United Nations) states that increased civilian access to firearms, including those legally acquired, “leads to increased levels of violence and insecurity that negatively affect human rights.”

In addition, a gun in the home increases the risk of domestic accidents, suicides and feminicides. “The presence of a gun in violent relationships, in a macho culture, increases the chances that a woman living in a violent home will be murdered by her partner. Does this mean that it will happen in every home? No, but we can’t banalize this argument,” says Ilona Szabó.

But don’t homicides happen with illegal weapons?

According to experts, a key point is that, in violation of the Disarmament Statute itself, in Brazil there is neither sufficient investigation nor integration of police and army databases on weapons.

“The problem is that the legal and illegal gun market is very fluid, and the greater the lack of inspection, the more easily this material moves from illegality to legality,” says Angeli.

The 2016 ALERJ (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro) CPI report on gun trafficking found that 19,000 weapons were diverted from civil and state police and private security companies between 2005 and 2015. The commission also showed that the weapons control systems are precarious and noted the low rate of completion of investigations into the disappearances of arsenals.

“Are there rifles in the hands of drug dealers? Yes, but this is not the reality in Brazil. The majority of violent crimes here are committed by low calibre guns, which a citizen registers and are later stolen or diverted from public security forces or private companies,” says Szabó.

In 1995 when Jair Bolsonaro was still a federal deputy, his gun and motorcycle were stolen during a robbery.

What are the features of the new decrees?

The majority of changes introduced by the new decrees increase, among other points, the number of weapons and ammunition, in addition to facilitating the registration of CACs (collectors, sports shooters and hunters).

The decree is criticized because it advocates gun ownership in Brazil. “I am in favor of the right to have a gun at home, which is different from being allowed to go out carrying a gun. Bolsonaro took advantage of this self-defense issue to try to justify the possession of weapons. I am against this indiscriminate release of weapons as a political instrument. Moreover, a debate of this nature should involve the Legislative branch, it can’t be done by Executive decree,” says Denis Rosenfield.

So far, 22 bills have been submitted to Congress to suspend the measures contained in the four decrees. There is also a lawsuit in the Supreme Court (STF) challenging the constitutionality of the decrees, which are scheduled to come into force in April this year.

“These measures were published in the dead of night, violating explicit provisions in the law, as well as violating the principle of separation of powers,” says Felippe Angeli.

Source: UOL