Brazil stepped up as a cautionary tale for U.S. gun owners over how oppressive governments may yank away individual rights on a whim. The country’s notoriously restrictive gun laws were loosened in recent years, and the results were telling.
Massive numbers of Brazilians became legal gun owners, and the nation’s homicide rate declined. Criminologists may argue over cause and effect, but the aftermath was clearly positive.
Enter new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On Friday, the chief executive issued an executive order rolling back individual liberties enjoyed by the sporting public. Part of his declaration was that only the military and law enforcement of the country should be “well-armed.”
The order is a series of sweeping restrictions on gun owners.
The number of personal guns allowed to be possessed will drop from four to two. Ammunition on hand for each personal firearm is to be restricted to 50 rounds, compared to 200 rounds previously. Brazilian media reported the government will institute a “buyback” program intending to remove specific weapons from circulation.
Unlike the United States, Brazil’s citizens do not enjoy a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Exactly like the U.S., proponents of the new restrictions label them “responsible gun control.”
Enforcement of the nation’s gun laws will undergo a radical shift. Where before it was the army’s duty to ensure firearms laws were followed, now it will be the federal police.
Lula announced the regulations in a speech, declaring, “we cannot allow there to be arsenals of weapons in the hands of the people.” He went on to express his desire for a “disarmed country.”
Clearly, these new measures are merely the first round in a coming wave of laws aimed at ripping guns from the hands of Brazil’s citizens.
