Decree signed
Lula tightens Brazil’s gun laws
7/22/2023 4:29 am
During his tenure, Jair Bolsonaro relaxed Brazil’s gun laws, and his successor Lula da Silva tightened them again. For this he signs a corresponding decree. This changes a lot for the population.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants to decree that civilians have more difficult access to firearms – and is thus reversing the generous easing of gun laws under his right-wing predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. “We will continue to fight for fewer guns in our country,” Lula said at the signing of the “Responsible Gun Control” decree.
Only the police and army should be “well armed,” Lula said, presenting a range of measures to curb violence in Brazil. The decree provides for limiting the number of weapons permitted for self-defense from four to two. In addition, in future every citizen who wants to purchase a weapon will have to prove that he really needs it. Certain population groups such as hunters, sport shooters and collectors are only allowed to own six firearms instead of the previous 30. Licenses for the purchase of ammunition will also be significantly restricted.
Federal police get control
The new decree also limits the opening hours of shooting ranges, which must also be at least one kilometer away from schools. According to the decree, the army should no longer control the gun ownership register of hunters, sport shooters and collectors, but gradually transfer it to the federal police.
The Instituto Sou da Paz organization welcomed the presidential decree as a “step back towards standards of accountability and legal certainty in gun control in Brazil”. According to them, as of July 2022, more than a million weapons were registered in the register of hunters, marksmen and collectors – almost three times as many as in 2018 before Bolsonaro began his tenure.