• by Fabiana Frayssinet (rio de janeiro)
• Wednesday, May 04, 2011
• Inter Press Service

An estimated 16 million firearms are in circulation in Brazil, 80 percent of them in civilian hands. Most of the guns are unregistered and illegally owned, and the government and civil society are planning a fresh campaign to reduce the number of guns and curb the thousands of shooting deaths in the country.

The voluntary disarmament programme is partly a response by the Justice Ministry to an Apr. 7 school shooting spree that left 12 children dead in Realengo, in the west of Rio de Janeiro. A former pupil of the school, Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, fired over 60 rounds from two revolvers he had acquired illegally.

Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardoso expressed concern at Brazilians' penchant for owning guns.

'An armed population is a violent population,' he said while making the announcement that the new campaign would get under way in May.

A similar programme was carried out in 2004-2005, when Brazilians were urged to hand in their firearms, with no legal consequences, in return for financial compensation. More than half a million weapons were collected and destroyed on that occasion.

Several lessons were learned from that campaign, according to Rubem César Fernandes, the head of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) <a href='http://www.vivario.org.br/' target='_blank' class='notalink'>Viva Rio</a>, which works to promote a culture of peace and social development. This year's campaign will use simpler procedures and less red tape.

For example, no one will be asked for identification when they come forward to hand over their guns. Only general information like age and sex will be requested, for research purposes. Collecting the financial compensation, which will vary from 67 to 200 dollars depending on the weapon turned in, will also be an easier process.

'This campaign was triggered by a traumatic and terrible event, as often happens with other reactive campaigns,' Fernandes, who is participating in the programme as a civil society representative, told IPS.

'There were massive demonstrations and a huge public outcry for another disarmament action. This campaign was essentially born out of public opinion,' he said.

According to Fernandes, firearms in this country may be legal, illegal or 'informally acquired.' 'A large part of the Brazilian arms market is 'grey', that is, the guns do not belong to criminals but neither are they legally registered,' he said.

The campaign is aiming above all at the 'grey' or informal sector of weapons, which cannot be traced if they are used for criminal purposes. 'We are really talking about ordinary citizens, among whom we wish to raise awareness that guns are dangerous and ought to be only in the hands of professionals and under strict control,' the head of Viva Rio said.

Meanwhile, the organisation Sou da Paz (I Am for Peace), an NGO working for solutions to violence, reported that of the 16 million firearms in Brazil, barely two million are in the hands of state security forces. The rest are owned by civilians, and only seven million are legally registered.

Many firearms end up being used for murders, hold-ups, or drug trafficking operations. But many Brazilians keep guns for personal protection. That was the excuse de Oliveira used to buy his two revolvers from a colleague at work.

Alexandre Fonseca, a gun collector, argued that the attack on the school was an isolated incident and the work of someone suffering from psychosis. He said the episode should have sparked off debates on issues other than disarmament, such as security and education in Brazil.

In an interview with IPS, he said the country's 2003 Disarmament Statute is very strict on licensing requirements and registration, and argued that it should be better enforced.

But so-called 'isolated' killings are still a matter of concern for the authorities and experts on urban violence.

Fernandes said the disarmament campaign is generating 'social pressure to curb the craze for firearms in our country.'

It also has the potential to prevent fatalities, for instance in cases of domestic abuse often involving jealousy or alcohol use, because a campaign of this kind 'cuts down on the presence of guns in the home.'

There are no studies on the number of deaths avoided in previous campaigns, because other factors also influence the outcome, such as improvements in public security and the toughening of the Disarmament Statute, which among other provisions restricted gun sales.

However, Fernandes did say that since the 1970s, the homicide rate in Brazil was 'an epidemic that was growing every year,' but has now begun to decline.

According to Viva Rio, 5,000 deaths were prevented over two years.

In 2010, the number of intentional homicides was 43,016.

The voluntary disarmament campaign, organised by NGOs, churches, Masonic lodges and other community groups, has a specific target population in mind.

According to Fernandes, it is generally women who come forward to hand in guns belonging to their husbands, sons, fathers, boyfriends or brothers, making 'women the primary participants in these campaigns.'

The reason, the sociologist said, is that guns are a 'masculine fetish' which men associate with 'cowboy-like' qualities such as power, status and virility.

'Women are usually afraid that firearms may bring about a tragedy in their homes,' said Fernandes, adding that most victims of domestic homicides are women.

The campaigns have always enjoyed strong support from women.

The campaign for voluntary weapons surrender will be combined with other initiatives, such as improving controls over domestic gun sales and the smuggling of firearms.

Calculations by the Viva Rio arms control programme indicate that only 10 percent of illegal firearms seized in Brazil are manufactured abroad.

Meanwhile, a proposal to hold another referendum to decide whether to prohibit all arms sales, proposed by Senate president and former Brazilian president José Sarney (1985-1990), was not approved.

Six years ago, <a href='http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30751' target='_blank' class='notalink'>in a similar referendum</a>, 60 percent of voters squashed the proposal.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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