Brazil Senate blocks Bolsonaro move to ease gun carrying

[webfact]

Brazil Senate blocks Bolsonaro move to ease gun carrying

 

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attends a ceremony of the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) Line of Credit for Philanthropic Organizations at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

 

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate on Tuesday overturned a decree signed last month by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro that drastically expanded the number of people allowed to carry weapons in public.

 

Bolsonaro pledged when campaigning for the presidency last year to change the laws to allow more Brazilians to bear arms for self defence. The temporary measure needs Congressional approval to remain on the books, however.

 

The Senate move still needs to be approved by the lower house which could vote the bill down, upholding the decree with the support of representatives of the gun lobby and farm sector who were instrumental in electing Bolsonaro.

 

The decree extended the right to carry weapons to lawyers, truck drivers, traffic police, public and private security guards, anyone living in rural areas and even journalists covering crime. It also raised the number of rounds of ammunition a gun owner can buy each year from 50 to 50,000.

 

"Security in rural areas is very important which is why we widened the right to carry weapons in all your properties," Bolsonaro said on Tuesday at a farming event, where he asked lawmakers to back his decree.

 

Critics say more guns is the last thing needed in a country believed to have the highest number of murders in the world. Brazil reported 65,600 murders in 2017.

 

Bolsonaro, a former Army captain turned politician, has argued that criminals are well-armed in Brazil so law-abiding citizens should also have the right to defend themselves.

 

His decree undermines efforts to reduce the number of guns in Brazilian society by collecting illegal firearms under a disarmament statute enacted in 2003.

 

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, the author of the bill passed on Tuesday, said he and other senators had received death threats on social media and by telephone warning them not to overturn the president gun initiative.

 

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-19

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[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

a country believed to have the highest number of murders in the world. Brazil reported 65,600 murders in 2017. 

Deceptive.

If reported on a per 100,000 people rate, Brazil falls in very narrow range from 2000-2017 with a high of 30.8 (2017) and a low of 25.5 (2007). The #1 has been typically Honduras with 90. Compare to Mexico in 2017 that had 25 homicides per 100,000.

Organized crime and smuggling are some of the driving factors behind the rise of homicides in Brazil.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/world/americas/brazil-murder-rate-record.html

Brazil has no need to flood the nation with more guns.

It would do better to flood the nation with effective law enforcement and prosecutions.

[Baerboxer]

18 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Deceptive.

If reported on a per 100,000 people rate, Brazil falls in very narrow range from 2000-2017 with a high of 30.8 (2017) and a low of 25.5 (2007). The #1 has been typically Honduras with 90. Compare to Mexico in 2017 that had 25 homicides per 100,000.

Organized crime and smuggling are some of the driving factors behind the rise of homicides in Brazil.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/world/americas/brazil-murder-rate-record.html

Brazil has no need to flood the nation with more guns.

It would do better to flood the nation with effective law enforcement and prosecutions.

 

Not deceptive at all. It states Brazil has the highest absolute number of murders. Is that a fact or not? 

 

You prefer to use a different figure. 

 

 

[Guest Jerry787]

at least....