“We have a more armed country, a stronger gun culture, more representatives focused on the pro-gun agenda,” said Carolina Ricardo, executive-director of Instituto Sou da Paz, adding that Congress will be the “thorn in the side” of groups pushing for stricter gun control. He repeatedly claimed that “an armed populace will never be enslaved.” He altered the rules for how much ammunition one can possess and access to restricted guns. Echoing aspects of American conservativism, he was the first Brazilian presidential candidate to campaign on a pro-gun platform, saying “good citizens” are entitled to firearms to protect their families and assets. In the eyes of right-wing Bolsonaro, however, the disarmament statute was a historic blunder. It boasted a high level of participation.

In Brazil’s last gun-control campaign, in 2003, Brazilians were invited to turn in their guns and receive a symbolic payment from the state. Those are likely to have been diverted to criminals, and are now targets for investigation and potential seizure, he said. After initial resistance, he started seeing success.īut more than 6,000 restricted-use guns previously registered with the army, and which include assault rifles, were not presented to police by the May 3 deadline, Justice Minister Flávio Dino told reporters Thursday. Now, his successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been moving to undo Bolsonaro’s pro-gun policies, and that started with requiring gun owners to register their weapons with police.

Over four years in office, former President Jair Bolsonaro tried to convert a country with few weapons into one where firearm ownership and lack of regulation meant personal freedom. Schmidt was adding his guns to the police registry Wednesday on the final day to comply with a decree by Brazil’s new left-wing president - or face confiscation. He had already registered his firearms with the army, as required by law for sport shooters like him, but experts have cast doubt on the reliability of its database, and said lax oversight has allowed such guns to fall into criminal hands.

Rock Star! by Amy Schmidt