MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fewer firearms registered in Brazil in 2023

Bolsonaro had made access to guns more easy

According to Brazil's National Weapons System (Sinarm), 20,822 new firearms were registered for personal defense in 2023 from 111,044 the previous year, which represented an 82% drop, Agencia Brasil reported.

The Federal Police (PF) said it was the lowest number of firearms registered for self-defense since 2004 when only 4,094 units were registered. Pistols top the list with 14,277 registrations in 2023, followed by shotguns (2,309), and rifles (2,215).

Security Minister Flávio Dino posted on social media Wednesday that the smaller number of gun purchases in addition to a decline in the number of intentional lethal violent crimes represented a “very relevant” combination for the country.

“This scientifically proves that it's not the irresponsible proliferation of weapons that tackles crime. It's equipped, technically prepared police forces, with proper planning. Without forgetting, of course, the main thing for new and sustainable conquests: social justice policies, such as full-time schools,” Dino wrote.

The drop in the registration of new firearms by civilians comes after the federal government adopted measures to try to disarm the population and reduce violence in the country. In July 2023, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree reducing the number of guns and ammunition held by civilians. A decree was also issued increasing the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI) levied on firearms, ammunition, and similar devices.

In an interview with Agência Brasil, the project manager of the Sou da Paz Institute, Natália Pollachi, said that this reduction in the registration of weapons by civilians was mainly explained by the more restrictive policy, but that this is not the only factor that should be taken into account. “Certainly the most influential factor was the change in regulations we had last year,” she said.

“The previous federal government [Jair Bolsonaro] issued a series of decrees and ordinances making access to firearms much easier. And then, in 2023, right on January 1st, we had a new decree from President Lula suspending new registrations for CACs [Collectors, Sports Shooters, and Hunters],” said Pollachi, also recalling the current government's signaling that there would also be changes in the number of weapons and calibers allowed.

“It's quite understandable that, even if people were interested in acquiring weapons, many of them chose to wait to see what the new regulations would be and what the restricted-use calibers would be, so that they wouldn't have to go through the process and then have to redo it or have their application denied,” she added.

For the project manager of the Sou da Paz Institute, the drop in registrations and the policy of greater restrictions on weapons are positive for the country. But she points out that, although the new regulations are satisfactory, there is still a need to improve enforcement for people who already have firearms.

“One of the federal government's decrees provided for the transfer of part of the Army's inspection powers to the Federal Police. This is a very delicate process because we're talking about the transfer of a database, a whole process of expertise, which requires the Federal Police to receive proportional investments so that it can commit to this function.”

Another issue that needs to be resolved, she said, is the publication and implementation of a program to buy back weapons that are in civilian possession. “The government [should] open a buyback program with attractive values for people who want to get rid of these weapons - and who may have bought them on impulse or in very large quantities that no longer make sense. We have the voluntary surrender campaign, which persists in the country today, but the amounts it pays are quite outdated.”

(Source: Agencia Brasil)