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Last Friday (21), the federal government launched the Security Action Program (PAS), to strengthen public security in all regions of the country. Important measures to combat violence were announced, such as actions to confront environmental and related crimes in the Amazon based on the AMAS Plan (Amazon: Security and Sovereignty).
Among the acts signed, there is also the new decree on gun and ammunition control in Brazil, which resumes responsible parameters and corrects serious setbacks implemented in recent years.
For some, the measure can be seen as an act of revanchism by the current government, directed at supporters of the previous administration, largely benefited by an arms policy. However, for those who, like me, have followed the issue for two decades, the new decree, based on evidence and a commitment to collective well-being and security, resumes the rationale inaugurated in 2003 by the gun control law known as the Disarmament Statute.
The legislation, the result of a broad social mobilization, was the result of years of research and is considered one of the most modern in the world. In addition to improving the responsible control of weapons and ammunition, the Statute was accompanied by a successful voluntary arms surrender campaign, helping to raise awareness of the issue and reduce the high levels of violence in the country.
Twenty years later, following the same logic, the new decree still allows the acquisition and possession of weapons by citizens, but in a proportional and coherent way. The measure reduces the power of weapons that can be acquired by civilians, returning to the limits that were in force between 2003 and 2018 and keeping the most powerful calibers in the hands of the armed and security forces, as it should be in countries that value everyone’s safety — public safety.
The rules for hunters, sport shooters and collectors (CACs) revert to respecting reasonableness. The quantitative limits for the acquisition of weapons for sport shooters, which reached 60, are again conditioned to the seniority and professionalism of the practitioners.
It is worth mentioning, however, that weapons legally acquired between 2019 and 2022 will be able to remain with their owners, including those that are once again restricted to use, such as 9mm pistols and rifles, but they will have to comply with stricter rules if they want to keep them.
Control and inspection mechanisms were strengthened in the new decree, which also provides for the progressive migration of competences to supervise CACs and shooting entities from the Army to the Federal Police.
Despite the undeniable advances, unfortunately, we are not immune to the constant dangers of setbacks. Since the approval of the Disarmament Statute in 2003, sectors guided by private interests have tried to overthrow it. At the moment, members of Congress are already articulating to stop the new decree — they mistakenly associate the new policy with an act of authoritarian governments and forget that, in democracies, the monopoly of the legitimate use of force belongs to the State.
The idea that arming the population makes society safer is a myth. A national policy aimed at reducing violence must bear in mind that security is only guaranteed collectively, there are no shortcuts. For this reason, rebuilding and strengthening the policy established by the Disarmament Statute is fundamental.
May the 20th anniversary of Law 10,826/2003 mark, once and for all, the era of responsible gun and ammunition control in the country. In this sense, the new decree represents an extremely important step in the resumption of a policy based on the public interest — and it needs to be celebrated and implemented.
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