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Brazil eyes 'Wild West' gun ownership law

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P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/brazil-eyes-wild-west-gun-ownership-law/article/447959

Brazil, which has one of the highest murder tolls on the planet, could soon end most restrictions on gun ownership, risking what one critic called a "Wild West" scenario.

A draft law stripping away current limits has already been approved in committee and is due to go to the lower house of Congress in November.

Under the law, anyone over 21, including people accused of crimes or convicted of less than serious crimes, would be allowed to purchase up to nine firearms a year and 50 rounds of ammunition a month.

State employees and public figures, ranging from government inspectors to politicians, would be authorized to carry arms, as would private citizens often in the public eye such as taxi drivers.

At present, weapons can only be bought legally by people obtaining a license on a case-by-case basis.

Supporters say freeing up gun sales will allow people to protect themselves in a country plagued by violent robbery and intense confrontations between drug gangs and police, with some 40,000 gun-related deaths a year.

"Our proposal is to guarantee the good citizen's right to self-defense," said the law's author Laudivio Carvalho, from the powerful centrist PMDB party.

But opponents fear that Brazil's orgy of gun violence would simply spin further out of control.

"It's a return to the Wild West," said Ivan Valente, a deputy from the leftist PSOL party.

The bid to overturn the existing 2003 law on regulations is part of a conservative agenda in Congress where Evangelists and the so-called "bullet-caucus" of right wing politicians with links to the security services are a powerful force.

Related draft laws include seeking a legal definition of family that would exclude homosexual couples and criminalizing abortion for women in cases of rape.

The same congressional wing is allied to the agricultural lobby and is pushing for legislation that critics say would seriously weaken indigenous tribes' control over their ancestral lands.

One of the most noted members of this right-wing caucus is Eduardo Cunha, the lower house speaker who is the key figure in an ongoing battle by opponents of leftist President Dilma Rousseff to seek her impeachment.

Deputy Joao Rodrigues, from the right-wing PSD party, said the gun law is necessary because the state "does not fulfil its obligations" to defend citizens.

"We need a cleansing. These criminals walk around and kill as they want. These people should be put out of business one way or another," he was quoted as saying by O Globo newspaper.

But in a society where mob justice and lynchings of suspected criminals is common, some worry that more availability of weapons will not bring peace.

"A weapon is a great ally for someone on the attack, but the worst enemy of someone trying to defend himself," said Ivan Marques, director of the Instituto Sou da Paz, a think tank studying violence.

"We need to disarm people, not arm them," said Jose Mariano Beltrame, the head of Rio de Janeiro state's security department.

Marques accused the arms industry of "playing on people's fear" and said Brazilian manufacturers are producing most of the weapons used in crimes in the country.

"The weapon that is used to kill and rob in Brazil is made here and in most cases was originally bought by someone for self-defense," Marques said.

A study of 14,000 weapons confiscated between 2013 and 2014 showed that 86 percent had been made in Brazil, he said.

About 500,000 weapons have been sold since the current law came into effect and 170,000 gun permits issued, according to official statistics cited by Marques.

In the first two years under the current restrictions the number of firearms murders fell 5.6 percent and two percent, but since then the number began to rise.

Marques says that's because the law was never properly applied. "We simply need more verification," he said.
Click to expand...
 
L

lastplayed

Member
Isn't the "wild west" thing a bit of a misconception? From what I've read it wasn't as lawless and gun happy as the movies make out.
 
I

iamblades

Member
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
maniac-kun said:
Does that mean everyone will be allowed to cary a gun everywhere?
Click to expand...

Don't think so:
State employees and public figures, ranging from government inspectors to politicians, would be authorized to carry arms, as would private citizens often in the public eye such as taxi drivers.
Click to expand...

ClosingADoor said:
We have a gun problem, let's remove the restriction on gun control. Surely that will not make things worse.
Click to expand...

Not that I agree with the policy in the OP, but if there's an overwhelming problem with criminals murdering people with guns, whats the solution?
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
ponpo said:
Not that I agree with the policy in the OP, but if there's an overwhelming problem with criminals murdering people with guns, whats the solution?
Click to expand...
Normally you'd want police to take care of it. But I'm guessing that is not as easy as it seems in Brazil. I don't have an easy solution, but I doubt more guns in the streets will drive down the amount of innocent people killed.
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
ClosingADoor said:
Normally you'd want police to take care of it. But I'm guessing that is not as easy as it seems in Brazil. I don't have an easy solution, but I doubt more guns in the streets will drive down the amount of innocent people killed.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I think coming up with a sane solution is hard when there is already an established gun problem. I feel like strict gun control works when the number of gun crimes isn't out of control, but in cases like this where it is, the common person may feel that realistically they need a gun to defend themselves from other guns.

http://webm.host/b092c/vid.webm

DARPA needs to invent a non-lethal but just as reliable gun alternative.
 
Hip Hop

Hip Hop

Member
Let's see what the outcome is. People should have a right to defend themselves in a country plagued by violence, where only the criminals carry.
 
D

Diablos

Member
Tea Party, NRA, et al.:

HEpz8dl.jpg


-----

Real talk: When gun violence has become that bad, it's probably better just to get out of the fucking country.
 
B

Bleepey

Member
The Faceless Master said:
why would this be interesting? we already saw what happened in Australia.
Click to expand...

We saw what happened when guns are taken away. But this time we get to see what happens when every dickhead with a pulse, trigger finger and the will has access to firearms. It will
not be
surprising to see the increase in gun violence. Then we can see what excuse and their defenders use. Probably blame black people or something.
 
A

Ac30

Member
SimleuqiR said:
My condolences to Brazil. But I'm also curious to see what unfolds.
Click to expand...

I can only see the murder rate increasing further. This is the government giving up, and frankly it's shameful that the people of Brazil are being abandoned by the people that are supposed to lead and protect them. Their solution is dumping even more guns on the street? That'll go well.
 
D

dejay

Banned
Has this got any hope of passing?

Also, what's the restriction of 50 rounds a month going to do? People are going to buy ammo and on-sell it to the people who want to stockpile. Once it's bought it's not like you can even identify it with a serial number. Compared to the 9 firearms a year, it's a weird ratio.
 
R

RodrigoDorta

Member
i dont know how i feel about this. In the currently political climate here where the "common citzen" feel the need to beat someone up if they are wearing red (communist!) i am very allarmed at gun laws being laxer.
 
F

FStubbs

Member
If the NRA has a presence in Brazil? They want to gamble that the murder rate goes down so they can campaign for no more regulations in America.

Sick.
 
G

gdt

Member
Brazil is a totally different situation than in America....either way this will be interesting at least.
 
N

nacimento

Member
The gun, evangelical and landowner caucuses are the scourge of Brasil. I hope it fails in the senate or Dilma Roussef vetoes it.

And Cunha should be in prison already, criminal cunt.
 
M

MJPIA

Member
Considering the limitations being removed only being allowed to buy 50 rounds a month seems strange.
If you're gonna give increased access to guns at least let them have enough ammunition to train at a firing range.
Brand new bunch of gun owners without much experience, this'll end well.
Not that I really expect this to end well either way.

Well maybe this'll give some data on just what removing gun ownership restrictions does.

Also according to the cdc there were 33K total gun deaths in the U.S in 2013 and we have a population of 320 million.
Brazil is around 206 million and they have over 40K a year?
Wow.
 
I

igordennis

Member
ponpo said:
I agree, but I think coming up with a sane solution is hard when there is already an established gun problem. I feel like strict gun control works when the number of gun crimes isn't out of control, but in cases like this where it is, the common person may feel that realistically they need a gun to defend themselves from other guns.

http://webm.host/b092c/vid.webm

DARPA needs to invent a non-lethal but just as reliable gun alternative.
Click to expand...

I live in Brazil. I dont feel like i need a gun and i have never met ANYONE that feels that way as well...
 
I

igordennis

Member
ponpo said:
I probably wouldn't either, but some do.
Click to expand...

Of course but the feeling i get is that that group is an extremely small minority here, unlike the US which has a real gun culture that permeates the country from what i have seen. Owning a gun is something that the average person doesnt even think about here... Of course this is my anecdote but i would be extremely surprised if it doesnt represent a large part of this country. Hopefully this gets shot down, i dont think it would lead to a positive change.
 
T

t0rment

Member
getting a gun here is as easy as getting cocaine, so there's no really a deterrent for people who wants to murder, rob or whatever. i doubt that this will change much.
 
J

JDSN

Banned
I get it, the brazilian police is too overworked, eliminating favela people is hard work that never ends.
 
V

Velcoro

Member
ponpo said:
I agree, but I think coming up with a sane solution is hard when there is already an established gun problem. I feel like strict gun control works when the number of gun crimes isn't out of control, but in cases like this where it is, the common person may feel that realistically they need a gun to defend themselves from other guns.

http://webm.host/b092c/vid.webm

DARPA needs to invent a non-lethal but just as reliable gun alternative.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. Gun control works in Japan because they already have no gun crime. My friend was born in Brazil and she's always told us about how dangerous the north/northeast regions are. Non-lethal alternative would be nice.
 
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