Highlights: Brazil restricts the carrying of weapons. Civilians are now allowed to possess a maximum of two weapons for personal defence, up from four.Hunters, sport shooters and collectors, grouped in a category called CACs, can now only own amaximum of 6. The Lula government also presented a bill on Friday that would toughen penalties for violence in schools. The country was plunged into mourning by several attacks on schools during the first half of the year. The decree "represents a step forward to return to standards of responsibility and legal certainty in arms control in Brazil," an NGO says.

Brazil: President Lula signs decree to limit access to firearms

Brazil restricts the carrying of weapons. Brazilian President Lula signed a decree on Friday, July 21, limiting access to firearms for the civilian population. He thus returns to the measures taken by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who had made the liberalization of the carrying of weapons a hobbyhorse.

Pistols are on display at the LAAD International Defense and Security Fair in Rio, Brazil, April 11, 2023. © Bruna Prado / AP

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Don't leave arsenals in people's hands ». With the decree on "responsible arms control" he signed yesterday, Lula intends to put a brake on the proliferation of firearms in Brazil.

Civilians are now allowed to possess a maximum of two weapons for personal defence, up from four. Above all, they will have to demonstrate that they really need them and obtain authorization to be able to acquire them. They will also no longer be able to obtain certain weapons considered particularly lethal, such as 9mm pistols for example.

Hunters, sport shooters and collectors, grouped in a category called CACs, some of whom could possess up to 30 firearms, can now only own a maximum of 6. They are no longer allowed to circulate with their loaded weapons. Anyone who already owns a gun will have the right to keep it, but a voluntary buyback program will be put in place. Another major change planned in the decree: the weapons registry, for the category of CACs, will gradually pass under the control of the federal police, and no longer of the army.

No shooting ranges within one kilometre of schools

The new decree limits the operating hours of shooting ranges, which can no longer be located within one kilometre of schools. These stands have experienced a boom in recent years, the practice of sport shooting allowing to acquire a large number of weapons legally.

With his measures, the Brazilian president hopes to reduce the number of firearms in circulation. According to the NGO Instituto Sou da Paz, more than one million weapons were registered on official registers in July 2022, three times more than before Jair Bolsonaro's mandate. The decree signed by Lula "represents a step forward to return to standards of responsibility and legal certainty in arms control in Brazil," the NGO said in a statement.

The Lula government also presented a bill on Friday that would toughen penalties for violence in schools. The country was plunged into mourning by several attacks on schools during the first half of the year.

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Brazil: President Lula signs decree to limit access to firearms

Brazil: President Lula signs decree to limit access to firearms

No shooting ranges within one kilometre of schools

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