A world leader in homicides, Brazil is to have more relaxed gun laws. President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree making it easier for people to own guns, and thus defend themselves.
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed the decree making it easier for Brazilians to own firearms on Wednesday.
The former army captain and far-right leader said it would help people defend themselves; with less restrictive gun laws: "you can be sure that violence will fall," he claimed in a television interview last week.
In 2017, nearly 64,000 people were killed, the majority of them by firearms. Brazil's overall homicide rate is 30.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. This is three times higher than the level that the United Nations classifies as endemic violence.
"The people decided in favor of buying guns and ammunition and we can't deny what the people wanted at that moment," Bolsonaro said. He was referring to a referendum in 2005 when Brazilians voted against banning the manufacturing and selling of guns.
Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes
Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was elected to Brazil's highest office on a wave of controversial statements ranging from homophobic to misogynist. DW looks at some of his most eyebrow-raising remarks.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/E. Peres
'Straight to the dictatorship'
Bolsonaro has criticized the very democracy that won him the presidency. In a 1999 TV interview, he said he would shut down Congress if he ever became president. "There is no doubt: I would perform a coup on the same day. And I'm sure that at least 90 percent of the population would celebrate and applaud because [Congress] doesn't work," Bolsonaro said. "Let's go straight to the dictatorship."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/L. Correra
'Rape'
Four years ago, Bolsonaro engaged in a heated debate with Brazilian lawmaker Maria do Rosario. During the debate, he said: "I wouldn't rape you because you don't deserve it." Shortly after, he defended himself, saying he wasn't a rapist. However, he added that if he were a rapist, he wouldn't touch do Rosario because she is "ugly."
Image: Agencia Brasil/M. Camargo
'Moment of weakness'
In a speech at Rio de Janeiro's Hebraica Club in April 2017, Bolsonaro spoke about his family. "I have five children. Four are men, and then in a moment of weakness the fifth came out a girl," he said.
Image: Getty Images/AP/L. Correa
'Prefer my son to die'
LGBT activists have long railed against Bolsonaro for his homophobic stance. But in a 2011 Playboy magazine interview, Bolsonaro made things personal, saying he "would be incapable of loving a homosexual son … I would prefer my son to die in an accident than show up with a mustachioed man." In May 2002, he said that if he saw "two men kissing each other on the street" he would "beat them up."
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'No means to control their offspring'
Bolsonaro has often belittled impoverished communities. But in 2008, he took things a step further by suggesting poor people should be prevented from bearing children. Birth control "methods have to be provided for those who, unfortunately, are ignorant and have no means to control their offspring because we [as the upper middle class] are able to control ours."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Cheibub
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No reason for a gun
New categories for gun ownership include citizens living in rural areas, in urban areas with high levels of homicide, business owners, gun collectors and hunters.
Buyers must be at least 25 years old, take a course at a gun club, undergo a psychological exam and not have a criminal record. Under the new decree, they no longer have to justify their interest in owning a gun.
"For a long time it was the state that decided who had the right or not to defend themselves, their family and their property. Today... we give Brazilian citizens the right to decide."
Soldiers patroling the Rocinha favelaImage: Getty Images/AFP/M. Pimentel
Four guns instead of two
People can own four guns, instead of the previous limit on two and do not have to renew the permit for 10 years.
Gun owners do have to have a safe with a key if there are children, adolescents or a person with a mental disability in the home.
They also can not yet carry the weapons in public, although Bolsonaro is planning to change that in a future law.
The law goes against an opinion poll by Datafolha last December which showed 61 percent of respondents believed firearms should be banned and posed a threat to others.
