His far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had greatly facilitated their acquisition. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree on Friday, July 21 to, on the contrary, restrict access to firearms to Brazilian civilians. Focusing on “responsible arms control”, the text aims to reduce in particular from four to two the number of weapons authorized for personal defense, while anyone wishing to acquire them will now have to demonstrate that they need them.
“We will continue to fight for fewer guns in our country. Only the police and the army should be well armed,” Lula said during his presentation in Brasilia as well as a series of measures to decrease violence in Brazil.
No shooting range within one kilometer of schools
Among the regulations introduced, hunters, sport shooters and collectors, grouped under a category called “CACs”, can now only own six firearms, compared to thirty previously after a decree issued during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
Authorizations to purchase ammunition have also been significantly restricted by the new decree. It also limits the operating hours of shooting ranges and prohibits them from being located less than one kilometer from schools.
Shooting ranges have experienced a boom in recent years, with the practice of sport shooting making it possible to acquire a large number of weapons legally.
Another major change provided for in the decree: the weapons register of the CACs will gradually come under the control of the federal police, and no longer of the army.
A number of weapons that has tripled under the Bolsonaro presidency
According to the non-governmental organization (NGO) Instituto Sou da Paz, more than a million weapons were registered in the CAC register in July 2022, almost triple the approximately 350,000 registered in December 2018, a month before the start of Jair Bolsonaro’s mandate (2019-2023).
The decree signed by Lula “represents a step forward to return to standards of responsibility and legal certainty in arms control in Brazil”, therefore welcomed this NGO in a press release.
The Lula government also presented a bill on Friday that provides for tougher penalties in cases of violence in schools. The country was bereaved by several attacks in schools during the first semester.
According to a report published Thursday by the NGO Brazilian Public Security Forum, 47,508 homicides have been committed in Brazil this year, more than five per hour on average.
But that figure has fallen steadily in recent years, since a record 64,078 homicides were recorded in 2017.
