“Guns don’t feed violence, just as flowers don’t bring peace.†– Jair Bolsonaro
Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro said while responding to critics who say that allow the law abiding in society to own and carry firearms will increase the bloodshed in the streets instead of stopping crime.
The ex-army captain is campaigning on traditional Brazilian values. Peace and security for the family, economic freedom, and the people being able to keep and bear arms for personal defense against the lawlessness created in the favelas (ghettos) and the corruption caused by the out of control socialism with the last two presidents.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who is currently in jail for theft of government funds via public corruption and former Marxist Terrorist Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached for her involvement in the Petrobras kickback scandal.
Brazil is home to a very strong gun culture and industry with such firearm companies like Forjas Taurus, Amadeo Rossi SA, and IMBEL (Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil) along with one of the largest ammunition producers in the world, CBC/Magtech (Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos). In fact, Brazil is the second largest arms industry in the Western Hemisphere.
Since 2004, civilian ownership has been under attack by the Brazilian Department of Justice (Ministério da Justiça) through the requirement of buyers proving a need. The Federal Police does not consider “self defense†as a valid reason.
Brazil has an estimated 17 millions firearms in circulation among the population and in 2005 the people voted against a referendum on banning the sale of guns and ammunition to civilians as a fight back against the authority of the Justice Department.
As reported in Bloomberg; 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 severely restricts civilian ownership of guns, and virtually bans their carry. The proposal would allow Brazilians with clean criminal records who pass psychological and firearm exams to buy up to six weapons and to carry them.
“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.â€
