GUN CONTROL

State control over the circulation of weapons and ammunition is a substantial part of the public security agenda in a democracy. Studies show that access to these artifacts by ordinary citizens – those who are not security officers – has direct impacts on violence rates, especially on those related to violent deaths and femicides, and, equally, may cause a rise in crimes and hinders the investigation of criminal organizations. 

Since his electoral campaign for the presidency, Jair Bolsonaro has promised to expand access to weapons and ammunition, making statements that evoke a supposed ‘legitimate self-defense’ against ‘bandits’. The handgun gesture has become one of his most widespread “personal trademarks” among political allies and supporters. In his first 15 days in office, Bolsonaro issued a decree amending the Disarmament Statute to expand the definition of “real necessity” that justifies the purchase of firearms for personal use. The new rule authorizes the purchase of up to 4 weapons per citizen. Five months later, this first decree was revoked by a more comprehensive one, initiating a back and forth movement in national arms policy. 

The Emergency Agenda reveals that one of the strategies for the relaxation of gun laws under Bolsonaro Administration has been the successive elaboration of ordinances and decrees, normatives that are not overseen by the Legislative Branch. Between 2019 and August 2020, 23 regulations were issued, loosening the rules on the carrying, possession, and circulation of weapons and ammunition. Following challenges to these regulations’ legality, the president revoked the decrees and issued new ones with minor changes in content. The main beneficiaries of these acts were rural landowners, armed forces members, hunters, marksmen and collectors (‘CACs’).

Amid pandemic, the state of public calamity has also served as a justification to suspend administrative processes on gun control. In 2020, another move towards more flexibility occurred due to the suppression of previous internal regulations. As a consequence, rules on the tracing, identification, registration, carrying, and commercialization of weapons have been revoked. The effects of the gun control deregulation policy are already visible: a survey revealed that civilian shooters bought, in 2019 alone, 32.1 million projectiles, which equals the number of ammunition purchased by State security forces. In 2020, data showed that the Federal Police issued 58,997 new  firearms possession licenses between January and May, a number three times higher than the one recorded during the entire previous year. 

See below a timeline with the set of acts that contributed to the relaxation of gun control.