More gun, more blood
Brazil has had a long history with gun control and a growing issue surrounding violence and homicides. In 2003, the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva established a new law ‘Estado de Desarmamento’ which made buying a firearm significantly more rigid. However, recently the current 2021 president Jair Bolsonaro implemented a new decreto titled ‘Decreto pró-Armas’ which has made firearms accessible to the larger public and much easier to purchase. Some would agree with Bolsonaro that firearms are important for protection and all citizens should have access; however I argue that access should be very limited as I believe it will decrease homicides.
In 2003, Lula prohibited civilians from carrying weapons, with the exception of professional exceptions, introduced a long investigation process, increased taxation, implemented psychological tests and a new minimum age of 21. All in all, it became a lot harder to own guns. The Brazilian population believed that arms should be still available to the public, as 63.94% of the population voted that they did not want the commerce of firearms and ammunition to be banned in Brazil. Implementing a more strict process behind the purchasing of guns was a better way to filter out who was buying it. The problem with making it illegal is that in the end it creates more crime and more movement for the mafia, as those who really want guns will eventually find a way, even if it’s illegal. Therefore keeping it legal increases the change of decreasing crime rates. I truly believe that the more arm there are, at the end of the day more blood there will be. Therefore, by decreasing the number of firearms, and selecting who has access to them, in my opinion was a positive step made by the Brazilian government at the time.
Most Brazilains agreed with the law surrounding gun control. However, once Jair Bolsonaro, the current president entered power he wanted to facilitate the process behind buying guns. Bolsonaro is a retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the conservative Social Liberal Party before cutting ties with it. He graduated from the Agulhas Negras Military Academy and served in the Brazilian Army’s field artillery and parachutist units. Therefore he has strong opinions on the topic which explains the discreteness he has put into place. His ideas consequently influence the people and their ideologies. In my opinion, for many years Brazil was finally on the right path in terms of gun control, it was strict but not impossible to have. There had been nearly no school shootings and those who wanted to protect themselves had guns at home to use in case of emergencies.
However, with Bolsonaro things are changing. Usually, citizens would have guns in their house, and not be able to take it out on the streets. With this new law now security, agents, prosecutors, politicians (who have elective mandates), journalists, traffic agents, cargo vehicle drivers, rural landowners and even tutelary councilors have the right to carry weapons with them; overall this allowed an additional 19 million people to carry firearms. In my opinion, the more weapons that are brought to the streets the larger the odds of their being accidents. I understand that having a gun in your house can be beneficial and allows you to protect yourself. However, families bringing their guns into their cars, into the restaurant, etc would only cause chaos, therefore I do not think this particular change benefits anyone.
Additionally, he facilitated the access of firearms in houses for anyone that passed basic requirements, had the minimum age of 21, with no criminal record. The major problem was that since the mandate was put into place people no longer need to complete a physiological test or attend gun management courses, which can lead to serious disasters. 64% of the population according to Datafolha was against the flexibility of firearm access and specialists all confirmed that the measure is unconstitutional however it still passed, but a lot of people were completely revolted. Since Bolsonaro has so many strong opinions and a driven mindset, there is nothing that can change his mind. He also implemented a lot of changes that did not correspond well with the advancements that had been made. Now each citizen with a license to port guns can have up to six guns and two thousand ammunitions per year, which is way too much for someone that just wants to protect themselves, the technical training certificate that was required until now, which is the responsibility of the authorities, is also replaced by a declaration of a “shooting club” where you practice “usually”. Lastly, he also now allows citizens to purchase firearms uo to fuzil T4, which before only the military has access to, making it shoot against shoot.
These changes have opened the doors for a lot of disasters. I do not understand why a citizen would need six guns to protect themselves, the more guns the greater the chance of one of them arriving in the hands of untrustworthy people. Additionally, increasing the power of the arms, also decreases the authority that the police and military have, only making it more unsafe for citizens. This has now become a debeatte because of how things are going in Brazil, there are obviously extremely high homicide rates. The ultimate goal is to create peace and decrease the amount of innocent lives being lost on a daily basis. Which brings up the argument of should citizens be able to have and carry guns to protect themselves, or should firearms be completely banned so that way they won’t need to protect themselves.
When civilians have guns in their household, it firstly scares off burglars from breaking into the houses, because most of the time in Brazil those that are robbing just need money to feed their kids or buy medications, they don’t want to cause fights or get hurt. So I do believe that it would highly decrease the amount of home invasion and homicides. In the rural areas of Brazil, a lot of people go to steal the cows and goods from the farm, since there are no police, no protection at all, so historically they have always had guns to protect themselves. Also Brazil is known for the homozides and how unsafe it is, so if there are guns available maybe crime rates would decrease, because robbers would be too scared. Also by making it easier for people to have access to guns, many claim that would decrease the mafia in Brazil because they would be legal, which would force many gangs to stop. I personally see the advantages in this, and if the guns are only kept at home, as previously mentioned the chances for accidents decrease.
Others would argue that citizens should also have the right to carry their guns wherever they go. The argument is that, if they have their guns with them at all times they can always feel protected, and the chances of there being robberies are way lower because of how scared burglars would be. This would provide security to citizens at all times, which many people crave in Brazil because of the current situation. On the other hand, a lot of people would claim that the number of deaths would increase, there are studies which prove that no matter what more blood will be spilled. This means that more police officers, robbers, victims will be killed and at the end of the day they are all citizens. Therefore, it is a debate if guns would decrease deaths because it would make killers and criminals scared or if it would increase because of the amount of guns circulating the country. I personally believe that it would only increase death rates.
Some data was collected and they found that 1 percent rise in firearm availability increases the homicide rate by 2 percent. Brazilian households with firearms had 44 percent higher risk of homicide than those without. In Brazil, a 2006 estimate put the costs of medical bills and lost productivity due to firearm deaths at $10 billion, nearly 1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product that year. Additionally, the Brazilian government in 2018 determined that the economic burden of violence was potentially dramatically higher: $77 billion per year, more than 4 percent of GDP. All in all, there are a lot of negative consequences that come with crime and increasing homicide rates, therefore I believe that the country’s priority should be to decrease homicides at all costs.
When looking at other countries, they have almost all struggled to find a balance between legalizing arms to the public and decreasing crime rates, the United States can be used as this example. There is constant argument about what is better, there have been 25 school shootings in 2021 alone, and in 2019 nearly 15,000 people in the US died from firearm homicide. Therefore, finding a balance can be hard and maybe making the laws surrounding gun control in Brazil looser will have an overall negative impact.
‘Decreto pró-Armas’ is a current local issue that is impacting Brazil, but has been seen all over the world. I have personal views that do not align with the current changes that were made to gun control. I believe that they should be a lot more strict, just to guarantee that those who have access to guns know how to handle it. Therefore, a format that could be followed is that of Japan. Japan had a high homicide rate, with 271,000 legally owned guns in 2011. However by 2014, things had changed, there had been six reported gun deaths in the whole country throughout the whole year. Gun owners now must attend classes and pass written and practical exams, undergo psychological assessments, and police background checks are exhaustive and even extend to the gun owners’ relatives. The country also banned handguns, and only allows shotguns and air rifles, the police must be notified where the gun and the ammunition are stored (in the homes), the police inspect the guns once a year, and after three years your license runs out. All in all, it is extremely strict.
In conclusion, I believe that the number one priority for Brazil should be to decrease death rates as it is impacting the economy and also making us lose innocent lives. Japan was able to implement ways in which their homicide rates decreased significantly, to a point where no other country was able to. I believe that the first step for Brazil will be to implement stricter laws such as the ones done by Japan. As well as having consequences for those who violate the law and owns illegal guns.
