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Brazil Has an Idea to Fix Rampant Gun Violence: More Guns

The country with the highest number of murders in the world plans to make it easier for citizens to acquire guns, hoping to help beat back crime

SÃO PAULO—Like millions of victims of rampant gun crime in Brazil, Claudio Sotero Júnior is clear about what he wants: his own gun.

His store near São Paulo selling bodybuilding supplements has been robbed at gunpoint six times since he opened it in 2006. Three years ago, the 41-year-old had to give up teaching kickboxing classes to pick up his wife from work every day after gunmen robbed and sexually assaulted her at a bus stop.

If it weren’t for Brazil’s strict firearms legislation, he said, he’d buy a Glock pistol to keep at work, and guns for his wife, sister and parents to defend themselves in what has become the world’s most murderous country.

Brazil racked up nearly 64,000 homicides in 2017, the highest overall number in the world. Over 70% of those were committed with firearms, widely available to criminals on the black market. Here in São Paulo, a megalopolis of 12 million people, over a quarter of residents say they have been held up at gunpoint at some moment in their lives, according to a study this year by the city’s business school Insper.

“It’s not fair, we’ve become hostages in our own country,” said Mr. Sotero Júnior. “We can’t take it anymore.”

Now, Brazil is set to embark on an experiment that will determine what happens when you loosen gun restrictions in a country battling an overpowering wave of gun crime.

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who takes office Tuesday, adopted a signature finger-gun salute during his campaign. The ex-army captain has promised a dramatic reversal of the country’s 15-year-old gun legislation to make it easier for citizens to obtain firearms.

“All the hoodlums already have guns, it’s only the good guys who don’t!” Mr. Bolsonaro said in a radio interview earlier this year. He said Saturday that he plans to issue a decree allowing all Brazilians without criminal records to own firearms.

Supporters of the measure say arming law-abiding citizens might cause Brazil’s criminals to think twice about carrying out a crime like a carjacking or home break-in. Violence experts say simply adding more guns to the mix without tackling the root causes of crime will only make the murder rate climb faster.

Crime has soared as Brazil’s police forces, starved of resources during the country’s 2014-16 recession and plagued by corruption, have been fighting a losing war against some of the world’s most powerful drug gangs. Critics have also blamed the government for the lack of a national public security plan, calling for more investment in investigative policing and community policing.

Under a 2003 law, Brazilian civilian gun owners must be at least 25 years old, provide proof of a steady job and have no criminal history, among other requirements. The biggest stumbling block, critics complain, is that federal police have the final say over whether applicants really need a gun. Police frequently decide they don’t.

Proposed legislation would take away the police’s veto power, reduce the age required to buy guns to 21, and make gun permits permanent rather than valid for only several years. Civilians could also be allowed to carry firearms in public.

Terrified of spiraling crime and losing faith in the police and the courts to protect them, Brazilians—with a growing belief that they are on their own in an incompetent state—are warming to the idea. An October poll by Datafolha showed 41% were in favor of loosening gun laws, up from 30% five years ago. A Paraná Pesquisas poll in 2017 found that a majority of Brazilians—53%—now support easy access to guns for self-defense.

Opposition is highest among women. But in the eastern suburbs of São Paulo, in one of the city’s growing numbers of shooting ranges, more women are also signing up for training, said Cristiane Rodrigues de Souza, an instructor. The club offers Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day specials, she said, picking up brass bullet casings from the floor. “Ooo, this one is still warm!” she said, apologizing for her chipped nail varnish—an occupational hazard of loading pistol magazines all day.

More than 200,000 people have been killed by guns in the past five years, according to government estimates. School children in some of Rio’s poverty-stricken favelas are now used to lying on the floor during shootouts, praying not to get hit by the stray bullets that routinely kill innocent bystanders.

The wealthy now bulletproof their cars and even houses, living in fear of hijackings at stop lights and armed thieves entering their homes. Private armed security guards are common.

“No one feels safe any more…anywhere in Brazil,” said Ricardo Gouvea, 47, a beefy sales executive, training at the shooting club in São Paulo one Friday evening this month with his wife. “Everyone has a right to defend themselves.”

Brazil has one of the lowest rates of firearm possession among civilians in Latin America, both legal and illegal, partly due to the tough gun control legislation. It has also escaped the types of military conflict that have left other countries in Latin America awash with weapons.

More at link above.

Definitely worth watching. Be interesting to see what liberal news has to say as well. I expect it won’t be mentioned at all.

I’m very excited for the citizens of Brazil. This is looooooooooong overdue.

Sixty-four thousand?!?

Wow.

I don't think I'd leave my house.

We've had our eyes on it.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...370030844#7370030844

It appears that Brazil isn't alone in gun deaths in Latin America. This was gleaned from the Wall Street Journal.

Violent deaths by firearms in 2016
(per 100,000 people)

US 3.85
Mexico 10.76
Brazil 19.34
Guatemala 26.81
Venezuela 34.77
El Salvador 40.29
Honduras 20.56

Link

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
It appears that Brazil isn't alone in gun deaths in Latin America. This was gleaned from the Wall Street Journal.

Violent deaths by firearms in 2016
(per 100,000 people)

US 3.85
Mexico 10.76
Brazil 19.34
Guatemala 26.81
Venezuela 34.77
El Salvador 40.29
Honduras 20.56

Link

But the government shutdown is Trumps fault, right? How dare he insist that he be allowed to secure our southern border! How dare he ask for 5 billion dollars out of a 4.4 TRILLION dollar budget to get the ball rolling! The fucking demorats own the shutdown, along with the pussy RINO's that are sneaking around behind the backs of Americans.

Brazil huh? So it's Taurus' for everyone?

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
Sixty-four thousand?!?

Wow.

I don't think I'd leave my house.

I would, on my way out of the country!

Wonder how widespread this situation will be in the LSM of this country.

John Lott is covering this too:

https://townhall.com/columnist...-is-harmful-n2538505