Arms Control in Brazil

Brazil’s Arms Control Law known as the Disarmament Statute, entered into force December of 2003. Approved by the Federal Congress the 9th of December 2003 and sanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, it resulted from six months of deliberations and four years of activism. The Statute regulates the manufacture, registration, possession and transportation of firearms and ammunition..

The Statute establishes the creation of a national database, the Sistema Nacional de Armas (Sinarm) or National Weapons System, to include data from Brazil’s Federal Police, Civil Police and the Brazilian Army. The Statute also bans civilians from carrying guns, defined as a crime with no right to bail, and raises the minimum age for acquiring firearms from 18 to 25..

The Statute also led to a national campaign for the voluntary hand in of guns, and the referendum on whether gun sales to civilians should be banned across the nation. Close to 500 thousand guns were collected nationwide over a period of 15 months. Those who handed in guns were given a refund and protected from criminal charges for the possession of illegal guns.

According to a report issued September 2005 by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) based on data from the Brazil’s Ministry of Health, there were 5,563 less deaths by firearms in 2004, the year of the voluntary hand in campaign.

 Downloadable documents: (In Portuguese)

Brazil's Gun Control Law, known as the Disarmament Statute: Estatuto do Desarmamento

Referendo, do 'sim' ao 'não': uma experiência da democracia brasileira

Brasil: as armas e as vítimas

Firearms: protection or risk?

Armes a feu: protection ou risque?

 "Vidas poupadas" (Lives Saved) Unesco Report, in full

From the Comunidad Segura Library: (In Portuguese)

Estatuto do Desarmamento: prós e contras

Antônio Rangel Bandeira

Com medo do referendo das armas

Antônio Rangel Bandeira

Defesa da vida no referendo

Antônio Rangel Bandeira

Desarmamento e referendo

Antônio Rangel Bandeira

Menos armas, mais vidas

Antônio Rangel Bandeira

Read further:

Memória da Campanha do Desarmamento

Related Sources:

Brazil's Ministry of Justice Website

Brazil's Federal Police Website

Latin America leads the way in arms control

In Portuguese:

Candidatos defendem controle de armas

Agentes prisionais de São Paulo poderão portar armas de fogo

'Mercado cinza' de armas na América Latina expõe fragilidade das fronteiras

Pesquisadores avaliam resultado do referendo sobre proibição de venda de armas para civis no Brasil

À queima-roupa
(interview, in Portuguese and Spanish)

César Campos (Rio de Janeiro State Administrative Subsecretary of Public Security, speaks on ammunition marking)

América Latina é líder em medidas para controlar armas