Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist president of Brazil, signed a decree on Friday limiting civilian access to firearms in an effort to reverse a rise in gun ownership under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
Private gun ownership nearly increased under Bolsonaro as he relaxed laws to appease his “Bibles, bullets, and beef” constituency.
“We will continue to fight for fewer weapons in our country. Only the police and the army must be well-armed,” Lula said in Brasilia as he unveiled a series of violence-curbing measures.
The action was taken in response to a number of recent school shootings in a nation where, according to the Public Security Forum, an NGO, there were more than five homicides committed on average every hour in 2022.
Individuals will only be permitted to possess two guns for personal defense under Lula’s “responsible arms control” edict, which is half the current maximum.
Anyone who wanted a gun would have to demonstrate their need for one.
There will be a six-weapon restriction for hunters, sports shooters, and collectors, down from the previous 30.
The availability of shooting ranges will also be limited, and they will no longer be permitted to operate within a kilometer (0.6 miles) of a school.
By July 2022, there were over three times as many civilian-held guns registered in Brazil as there were when Bolsonaro took office, according to the anti-violence NGO Instituto Sou de Paz.
The newly promulgated regulation “represents a step forward to return to standards of responsibility and legal certainty in arms control in Brazil,” the group claimed in a statement.
A law to toughen the punishments for classroom violence was also proposed by the Lula administration on Friday.
