Brazil seeks to copy US gun culture | World Defense

Brazil seeks to copy US gun culture

ipm_zipedia

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Brazil Seeks To Copy U.S. Gun Culture

Lawmakers want to make it easier for Brazilians to get weapons.

Congressmen in Brazil, one of the most violent countries in the world, are proposing to dramatically loosen restrictions on personal gun ownership, bringing the country much closer to the American right to bear arms.

The politicians say the measures are necessary to allow embattled citizens the right to defend themselves from criminals armed with illegal weapons. But opponents say the move will only increase the country’s toll of nearly 60,000 murders in 2014.

The draft law, which is set to be voted on by the lower house of congress this month, introduces a right for citizens to own firearms for self-defense or the protection of property. Currently, citizens must apply for a gun permit and justify why they need a gun, meaning that applications can be easily denied.

The bill also reduces the minimum age for the purchase of weapons from 25 to 21, removes a ban on those under criminal investigation owning or carrying weapons and allows citizens to buy nine guns and 600 rounds of ammunition a year.

“Brazil is an extremely violent country and the state has failed to resolve this problem,” says Laudivio Carvalho of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, who guided the bill through a special committee of lawmakers, in a telephone interview. “The population needs the right to defend themselves, their family and their property as they are the ones being attacked. Ninety percent of assaults are being carried out with illegal weapons.”

The approval of the law by a congressional committee this month is a “confession of bankruptcy,” opponent Alessandro Molon of the Sustainability Network party told a committee hearing into the draft law. “We are saying, ‘thanks to our incompetence, you can defend yourselves and live in a Western because we are inept,’” he added.

Critics fear the changes will lead to even more murders and an increase in vigilantism in a country where 50% of the population agree that “a good bandit is a dead bandit.” Last year Brazil recorded 58,497 murders, a rate of 28.8 per 100,000 people. By comparison, the U.S. recorded 14,249, a rate of 4.5.

“Without doubt we will see an increase in the murder rate,” says Ivan Marques, executive director of the Sou de Paz institute, which campaigns for disarmament. “The number of deaths is directly related to the number of guns on the streets.”

Marques said Brazil should not try to emulate the United States. “Our constitution emphasizes collective security not individual security,” he added.

After a disarmament law was passed in 2003 introduced many of the current restrictions, about half a million weapons have been sold and 170,000 gun permits issued.

In the first two years under the law the number of firearms murders fell, but then rose again, although campaigners such as Marques say they remain lower than they would have been without the legislation. Meanwhile, the black market in firearms remains huge. In 2014, police seized nearly 120,000 illegal weapons.

The draft law is the latest move by what has been dubbed by opponents as the Bullets, Beef and Bible Caucus in Brazil’s congress. Politicians linked to the security services, big agricultural firms and evangelical Christians consolidated their power in last year’s elections and have advanced a series of conservative measures.

Among the other laws being debated are a plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 16; narrow the country’s robust definition of slave labor; weaken indigenous tribes’ right to claim their ancestral lands; exclude homosexual couples from the definition of family; and limit access to abortion in cases of rape.

Some see the financial might of the arms industry in the plan to loosen gun control laws. In Brazil, there is no big grassroots equivalent to the National Rifle Association, but the firearms industry is a powerful lobby and has often contributed to political campaigns, says Ignacio Cano, a public security expert at Rio de Janeiro State University. The draft law lifts stringent restrictions on advertising by the gun industry.

“The gun lobby in Brazil is not as vocal as the NRA but they are nonetheless very powerful,” he says. “It would be a clear example of evil if we were to allow private interests to prevail over the public interest. This law is the last thing we need.”

Another of the bill’s sponsors, Rogério Peninha Mendonça, also of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, said he believes congress must respect the rights of the Brazilian people, who voted against a ban on arms sales in a 2005 vote. “I’ll tell my kids that we are recovering our rights,” he said. “We are not arming anybody.”

But the law is opposed by many on the frontline of public security, such as José Mariano Beltrame, the state security secretary in Rio de Janeiro who is charge of implementing an ongoing plan to “pacify” the city’s favela communities. “We need to disarm the bandits not arm the people,” he says in an emailed statement. “I hope congress will have a little more clarity and rationality and we can prevent this law from passing.”

Discuss. Personally, I find this a necessary upheaval of current law considering the dire circumstances of Brazil's murder rate.
 

Corzhens

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This thread has a debatable issue. In the Philippines, it has been a long time since the no-gun advocates were waging war with the "permit to carry" thing because their reason is this - no one would die by the gun if there is no gun, it's as simple as that. But some pro-gun proponents argue that when citizens become unarmed then the criminal elements will have a heyday. For me, maybe it is good to try the gun thing where anyone with proper profile can be given a permit to own and carry a gun. That would definitely scare the criminals out there.
 

ipm_zipedia

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This thread has a debatable issue. In the Philippines, it has been a long time since the no-gun advocates were waging war with the "permit to carry" thing because their reason is this - no one would die by the gun if there is no gun, it's as simple as that. But some pro-gun proponents argue that when citizens become unarmed then the criminal elements will have a heyday. For me, maybe it is good to try the gun thing where anyone with proper profile can be given a permit to own and carry a gun. That would definitely scare the criminals out there.
Brazil has a long history of gun violence, and definitely isn't a stranger to criminals who acquire weapons even when state law mandates that they don't. Over there in the slums, guns are like candy. It only makes sense that arming law-abiding citizens would be effective in deterring the murder-for-hire business that is so ingrained in politics and family culture there. I've seen so many horrific videos of hitmen killing in broad daylight and with no citizens on the defense, it's a sad thing.
 

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Brazil has a long history of gun violence, and definitely isn't a stranger to criminals who acquire weapons even when state law mandates that they don't. Over there in the slums, guns are like candy. It only makes sense that arming law-abiding citizens would be effective in deterring the murder-for-hire business that is so ingrained in politics and family culture there. I've seen so many horrific videos of hitmen killing in broad daylight and with no citizens on the defense, it's a sad thing.

We also have hitmen here who are riding in tandem on a motorcycle. That is the reason why the term "riding in tandem" has become popular because of those killing. A hitman can shoot someone and leave hastily on their motorcycle that's why they always make a successful escape. The pro-gun advocates reason out that if ordinary citizens have guns too then they have a chance to shoot it out with those criminals.
 

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Brazil is really not going in the direction everyone was hoping for - I thought by now Brazil would be a major economic super-power, but they're just shooting themselves in the foot time and again.
 

ipm_zipedia

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Brazil is really not going in the direction everyone was hoping for - I thought by now Brazil would be a major economic super-power, but they're just shooting themselves in the foot time and again.
It certainly isn't in the position of becoming an economic superpower considering that the worlds of politics and luxury in the country happen to coincide with violence and power. Until corrupt politicians step down and the country has a strong law enforcement integrated, in conjecture with armed and proud citizens, it will always be in chaos where the rich quite literally look down upon the poor.
 

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Guns should be banned or strictly regulated. Why would anyone needs to carry a gun. Having a gun in for protection kept inside the house is fine but carrying a gun outside should not be permitted otherwise, expect an increase in crime rates wether in Brazil or anywhere else.
 

Natosha Gutieres

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It will create problem for the common people, as the police situation is worse in the country. USA is managing with so many guns due to strong judicial system alongside with strict implementation of the laws. And further, you can't run away easily, due to extensive security installed on every corner of every street. Brazil lack all of them. If the weapons are distributed, it will be impossible to get it back.

Let consider a situation. Things go worse, and Brazilian authorities decided to take back the weapon. You know what???

They can't get them back. A similar thing happened in 1972, a town of 200 people was discovered with 25 guns, but government was not able to get even 1 back. Professor David Othman described this situation as civil confrontation during his talk at Coast Guard Institute in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Militarybases.co.
 

ipm_zipedia

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Guns should be banned or strictly regulated. Why would anyone needs to carry a gun. Having a gun in for protection kept inside the house is fine but carrying a gun outside should not be permitted otherwise, expect an increase in crime rates wether in Brazil or anywhere else.
Brazil already makes it practically impossible to arm citizens, and it has the largest murder rate with firearms in South America. So, clearly something is wrong with your "gun control."
 

Scorpion

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Brazil already makes it practically impossible to arm citizens, and it has the largest murder rate with firearms in South America. So, clearly something is wrong with your "gun control."

Hmm I see, that has one explanation only, corruption on government level. If you look at crimes rate per country you would see that the south american region has the highest rate of homicide in the world and that also doesn't exclude the North American part. The U.S also has its fare share of that. Since my gun control doesn't work what do think the solution be?
 

ipm_zipedia

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Hmm I see, that has one explanation only, corruption on government level. If you look at crimes rate per country you would see that the south american region has the highest rate of homicide in the world and that also doesn't exclude the North American part. The U.S also has its fare share of that. Since my gun control doesn't work what do think the solution be?
That's ironically another one of those majorly true explanations. I think a combination of allowing citizens to defend themselves in the event of gang chaos (the criminals don't care if you ban guns or not, they have black markets and they can get automatics for VERY cheap and they will continue to do so until it is considered not viable to kidnap, kill, or steal) and a combination of a more progressive government would certainly help. I know this sounds utterly ridiculous, but if you want a good example (albeit exaggerated) of what Brazil's current state is like, play Max Payne 3's campaign. It has a really fantastic story and it really shows the harsh reality of the Brazilian slums, the political bureaucracy+corruption, the class-ism, it's a very entertaining and fun video game held in an all-too-real setting. They certainly did their research.
 

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Brazil might just benefit from doing this. Yes, there are fears and a possibility that arming them might incite or support radical groups with their use of new arms, but those same groups already get their arms from other places and use them from the people. Just as it is in any society, if the good people are defenseless, then only the bad people will be armed to have guns and attack them. That's the way it is everywhere whenever people aren't able to arm themselves.

If the criminals can't get guns, then they use knives or other sharp objects. As soon as they banned guns in Australia, they had more people being killed by a rise in knife attacks than ever before. Why? Because the people who normally would have been able to defend themselves with a gun were no longer legally able to have one, and the attackers with their knives knew that. The attackers know they can get away with more and more often if the people they fight against aren't as well protected or able to defend themselves.

Historically, whenever the people are armed, the crime rate and the number of deaths drops significantly because the majority of people being killed are the criminals and not the people anymore. When the criminals are no longer able to take advantage of the people by majority, the crime and hostility drops. I see the copying of the US culture in this way as a good thing because it can really help them if they decide to do it.
 

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I'm all for the good guys having guns to protect themselves. It's well known that criminals in gun free areas have open access to weapons. Gun control only controls the actions of those who are law-abiding, and the law-abiding aren't the ones out committing the crimes. Perhaps at first there would be an increase in gun-related deaths, as people learn to fight back against aggression from criminals. However, some criminals might think twice about committing violent acts when they're unsure if the targets are also armed and able to stop their attacks.

Much of the gun violence in the United States is committed in areas that severely restrict citizens' abilities to own/carry firearms. Those high number of offenses are committed by those who don't care to follow the laws of society. Non-criminal citizens shouldn't be prevented from protecting themselves if the government is unable or unwilling to curtail the wanton activities of criminals.
 

ipm_zipedia

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I'm all for the good guys having guns to protect themselves. It's well known that criminals in gun free areas have open access to weapons. Gun control only controls the actions of those who are law-abiding, and the law-abiding aren't the ones out committing the crimes. Perhaps at first there would be an increase in gun-related deaths, as people learn to fight back against aggression from criminals. However, some criminals might think twice about committing violent acts when they're unsure if the targets are also armed and able to stop their attacks.

Much of the gun violence in the United States is committed in areas that severely restrict citizens' abilities to own/carry firearms. Those high number of offenses are committed by those who don't care to follow the laws of society. Non-criminal citizens shouldn't be prevented from protecting themselves if the government is unable or unwilling to curtail the wanton activities of criminals.
Exactly. The rise of citizens carrying will be an incredibly powerful deterrent to criminals looking to open fire or perform hits on targets. Oddly enough, most of the gun violence in Brazil is gang related or politically charged, so pretty much everyone is vulnerable unless they have security. Chicago is a great example of how bad gun laws can be.
 

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Exactly. The rise of citizens carrying will be an incredibly powerful deterrent to criminals looking to open fire or perform hits on targets. Oddly enough, most of the gun violence in Brazil is gang related or politically charged, so pretty much everyone is vulnerable unless they have security. Chicago is a great example of how bad gun laws can be.

Yes, I find it curious that gun control advocates can't seem to comprehend that, other than a few instances, guns in the hands of good guys are a positive step. For every case they bring up of someone accidentally shooting another, there is at least one, if not more, cases of good guys deterring crime and/or protecting themselves and/or others.

I lived for many years in an area where guns were pretty much banned, and the law stated if an intruder entered your home, you had to do everything possible to escape your own home, before harming the intruder. The only people allowed to have loaded guns there or carry a gun were those with money and connections, who were able to show cause to need one, such as a (connected) business owner. I totally disagreed with that, and that's a major reason why I moved away from the area. In my opinion, if I'm going to have a gun in my home, it will be loaded. I don't want to be fumbling in the dark to load a gun if I'm faced with an intruder.

I don't care if someone is afraid of guns, and have no problem with anyone like that not having a gun. I'm not trying to force anyone to have a gun that they're not comfortable having. I don't care if they ban guns from their homes, but this is America, and they will not deny me my constitutional right to have guns, nor to protect myself or my loved ones. In my opinion, the 2nd amendment is one of, if not the most, important of all of our constitutional rights. It wasn't put in place to address the issue of hunting. It was put in place to address the issue of tyranny, and to protect citizens from government overreach.

With the increase in not only crime in general, but violent crime in particular, I think it's every person's job and duty to fight back, and help restore order and safety, since the government appears unable to do so.
 
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