Under its current President, Brazil went from allowing almost no gun ownership, to new rights for shooters that saw a drop in crime and flourishing gun clubs.

However a new President takes office on 1 January – and he’s out to ban guns.

Brazil frees up gun ownership

THE WASHINGTON POST has published this amazing story from Brazil which went from gun bans to private gun ownership in only a few years – and with significant benefits, including a drop in firearm homicides by 27%.

It’s something you don’t hear much about – which is hardly suprising for two reasons.

The first is, as you know, many outlets are left-leaning. However the second is less sinister: Good news doesn’t sell anywhere a well as bad news.

Not so fast, says the gun control lobby

The anti-gun lobby was quick to question the benefits, in particular, the drop in homicides.

They say that the demographics have changed (people are getting older) and that there are fewer cartel wars.

However the anti-gun brigade is not only light on any verifiable data – but fail to explain why homicides were so high in the first place when ordinary citizens could not previously own guns.  

Instead they doubled down.  The story also quotes claims by gun control researcher, Daniel Webster, from the John Hopkins Bloomerg School of public Health who, according to the report, said “

“every 1 percent increase in firearm ownership is associated with a 0.9 percent increse in firearm homicide rates.”

In other words, Webster is saying that there is an almost perfect correlation with legal gun ownership and gun crime.  

Yet this is not true in Brazil. Nor in any other country that we know of.

Another gun control advocate, from the Instituto Sou da Paz, made claims about school shootings and suicide.  Again, the claims are unsourced and similarly cannot be verfied.

Bolsonaro the hero

The hero here is President Jair Bolsanaro, who The Washington Post claims saw his hero was Donald Trump.

Since taking office in 2019, Bolsonaro has issued decrees that have given Brazilians the laws they now have – and which have changed things for shooters for the better.

Gun shows – and 2,000 gun clubs

The new Brazilian gun laws have understandably led to the development of gun clubs at a blistering pace.  

Gun shows are also being held with gun owners clearly embracing the change. The story stated: 

“… retired military police chief Marcelo Venera, the executive director of the two-year-old expo, the largest gun show in the country and the first open to civilians. “We are here to show that we are good people and there is nothing wrong with loving guns!””

The story also stated:

And in a country where police cannot always be trusted to respond effectively, Santa Catarina is also a place where people say they believe they should be able to take personal safety into their own hands.

Gun rights advocates, including Bolsonaro himself, say reducing controls on guns has turned Brazil into a far safer place for its 215 million citizens. 

If only shooters in other countries had the same leadership.

Of course, private gun ownership still remains tightly restricted compared with other places like the US. 

However the future of the debate will hopefully be to make firearms more accessible in a safe environment where these benefits will contiue to grow.

Brazilians now have nearly 2m legally held guns.

There’s also less bureaucracy

The report says Bolsonaro also dropped a rule requiring would-be purchasers to justify their need for a firearm to their local police department.

It says a civilian who wanted to buy a gun previously needed to

“submit an application that substantiated their personal level of risk — describing in detail whether they lived in a condominium complex with a doorman or a secure gate, for example. Police had wide discretion on whether to grant or deny the license.

“You could go through this exhausting and expensive process, only to hear a ‘no’ at the end of it,” [Bolsonaro] said. “Because some sheriff decided your home was too safe.”

Despite the changes, obtaining a firearm in Brazil remains quite a process.

Owners must show proof of income, undergo a psychological evaluation, registration with the police and a shooting club, and cannot carry a gun if they are not on the way to a shooting club.

Plus, firearms cost roughly three times as much in Brazil as in the US, making shooting a sport for people with higher incomes.

The story says that a new lobbying group modeled on the National Rifle Association got its president elected to Congress.

See the original story by clicking here.

Is this about to come to an end?

Unfortunately, former Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has just been reelected and due to take office on 1 January,

Lula is a strident anti-gunner and vowed to reverse many of Bolsonaro’s decrees. 

It remains to be seen if he will simply ban all guns again, or take a more pragmatic approach that will give Brazilian gun owners a fighting chance.

Either way, this is why shooters in Brazil MUST organise themselves politically – right now!

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