Gun laws in Brazil

In Brazil, all firearms are required to be registered with the minimum age for gun ownership being 25.[1] It is illegal to carry a gun outside a residence, and a special permit is granted to certain groups, such as law enforcement officers.[2] To legally own a gun, an owner must hold a gun license, which costs BRL R$1000,[2] and pay a fee every three years to register the gun, currently at BRL R$85.[3] Registration can be done online or in person with the Federal Police.[4] Until 2008, unregistered guns could be legalized for free.[5]

It is estimated that there are around 17 million firearms in Brazil,[6] 9 million of which are unregistered.[1] Some 39,000 people died in 2003 from gun-related injuries nationwide.[6] In 2004, the number was 36,000.[1] Brazil has the second largest arms industry in the Western Hemisphere.[7] Approximately 80% of the weapons manufactured in Brazil are exported, mostly to neighboring countries; many of these weapons are then smuggled back into Brazil.[7] Some firearms in Brazil come from police and military arsenals, having either been "stolen or sold by corrupt soldiers and officers."[7]

In 2005, a majority of Brazil's population voted against banning the sale of guns and ammunition to civilians in a referendum. However, the Brazilian Department of Justice (Ministério da Justiça), at the time it performs each individual's mandatory background check (which is made prior every gun acquisition, and every three years after it is acquired, which allows gun confiscation at the discretion of authorities), have been forbidding almost every citizen to buy guns , based on the Executive Order # 5.123, of 07/01/2004 (Decreto n.º 5.123, de 1º de julho de 2004), that allows the Brazilian FBI (Polícia Federal) to analyze the reasons that motivate a gun acquisition and the will of keeping an acquired gun, in which "self defense" is not considered a valid argument because there are allegedly sufficient and efficient public police officers that are in charge of nationwide security, among other reasons for this kind of denial.

Thus, disarmament is in fact real in Brazil , as are massive gun confiscations , notwithstanding its massive refusal by Brazilian people (at the referendum of 2005) and even though it is considered one of the real causes of 20% rise of gun usage rates in homicides in the country, in its nine years of existence (in 2003, people with guns killed 36.115 of the total 60.121 homicides, about 60%, while in 2012, 40.077 homicides of the total 50.108 were made buy the usage of a gun, about 80%).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Brazilians reject gun sales ban". BBCNEWS. October 24, 2005. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  2. 1 2 "LEI No 10.826, DE 22 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2003". December 22, 2003. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  3. ↑ Etapas para compra de uma arma de fogo
  4. ↑ Registro de armas de fogo pode ser feito via Web
  5. ↑ Termina prazo para legalizar armas sem taxas
  6. 1 2 Hearn, Kelly (October 5, 2005). "The NRA Takes on Gun Control – in Brazil". Alternet. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  7. 1 2 3 Rohter, Larry (October 20, 2005). "Gun-Happy Brazil Hotly Debates a Nationwide Ban". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-18.

External links

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