Calay News
The president signed a measure during a ceremony at the Planalto Presidential Palace as part of a “Security Action Program” presented together with his Security Minister, Flávio Dino, which includes other measures and proposals to try to reduce violence in Brazil.
The decree refers to “responsible control of weapons” and establishes that the number of weapons allowed for self-defense purposes is reduced from 4 to 2, and the number of weapons for hunters, sport shooters, and collectors is also reduced from 30 to 6. In addition, it limits the hours of operation of shooting clubs, which must also operate at least one kilometer away from schools. Lula stressed that the priority must be that the police and the armed forces are well armed, not the civilians.
The leftist president’s main objective is to reverse the proliferation of weapons among civilians, which increased during the government of the far-right Bolsonaro. According to the Instituto Sou da Paz, in July last year, hunters, shooters, and collectors had more than a million weapons, almost three times the 350,000 registered in December 2018, a month before Bolsonaro took office.
The government also presented bills to toughen penalties against “undemocratic” acts or attacks against authorities and another that increases penalties for violence in schools.
With the new norm, the control of weapons will pass from the Army to the Federal Police. This seeks to assume “responsibility for public safety” and reduce violence both in cities and in the Amazon, where a tragic murder occurred in 2022 that evidenced the growing violence in the region.
Although homicides decreased slightly in 2022 compared to the previous year, there were a record number of rapes in the country. The government seeks to address these problems through stricter gun regulation and measures to strengthen public security in Brazil.
