In Brazil each year there are around 60,000 murders committed with firearms. The U.S. averages slightly more than 8,000 each year. Still a sad statistic, but given that Brazil is home to slightly more than 200 million people, and the U.S. is home to over 325 million people, it’s obvious that the rate of gun homicides in Brazil is much higher.
The interesting part about Brazil’s high gun homicide rate is that the civilian population has been disarmed. Only criminals have guns in Brazil. It’s safe to say the disarmament policy has failed. Those calling for gun bans in America should take note.
With criminals running rampant with illegal firearms, some Brazilians are demanding a chance to defend themselves. At least one candidate in their upcoming October election, Jair Bolsonaro, agrees with them, and has made firearms ownership a part of his platform. Bloomberg reports:
Desperate Brazilians are wondering whether they’d be better off armed, given that around 60,000 of their compatriots are killed each year. Polls show support for gun ownership gaining ground. In an election year, politicians are paying attention.
One of the candidates leading the field for October’s 2018 presidential election — hardline conservative Jair Bolsonaro — has promised to allow law-abiding citizens to arm themselves, a popular pledge in the nation with by far the most homicides of the entire world. Even before then, Congress may debate legislation to overturn the “disarmament statute,” a law that effectively bans civilian gun ownership, except in rare circumstances. The proposal would allow Brazilians with clean criminal records who pass psychological and firearm exams to buy up to six weapons.
“Everyday, everywhere you look, the criminal is armed with a high-powered weapon as the citizen tries to hide,” Rogerio Peninha Mendonca, the lawmaker behind the proposal, said in an interview. “What we want is for the citizen to be more capable of defending himself.”
The idea runs counter to recent calls in the U.S. for greater gun control, as well as the global trend towards restricting access to firearms that’s seen Australia, the U.K, Canada, New Zealand and Germany tighten their laws in recent decades.
Citizen’s Right
Forty-two percent of Brazilians believe gun ownership is a citizen’s right, according to a November survey by pollster Datafolha. That’s up from 30 percent four years earlier. And of the lower house lawmakers who have expressed opinions publicly, slightly more than half support the proposed legislation, according to a scoreboard maintained by Peninha’s staff.
Fellow lawmaker Bolsonaro, a former Army captain, has been preaching the gospel of gun rights as part of his law-and-order pitch to voters. In polls he trails only former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will likely be barred from running.
Brazil’s gun policy needs to change, Bolsonaro said at an event in Congress on March 7. He drew cheers from his supporters when he joked that the so-called “bullet caucus” of lawmakers united by their tough stance on crime should be renamed the “machine gun caucus.”
“Dictatorships only take root after disarmament programs,” he said.
Read more here.
If you were a Brazilian facing unchecked criminals, why wouldn’t you want to buy a gun? In America, you should get your gun and your training now.
