A study by Instituto Sou da Paz shows that Jair Bolsonaro's easing of gun access rules changed the profile of seizures in Brazil's Southeast, with more 9 mm pistols and newer rifles in criminal hands. The research examined 255,900 incidents from 2018 to 2023, indicating rapid migration of legal firearms to the illegal market. President Lula revoked these measures upon taking office, denouncing them as harmful to family safety.
The Instituto Sou da Paz released the study 'Arsenal do Crime', analyzing 255,900 firearm seizures in Brazil's Southeast region by state and federal police from 2018 to 2023. Data obtained through the Access to Information Law shows that Jair Bolsonaro's gun access easing policies boosted the modernization of weapons used by criminals.
Prior to the May 2019 easing, 9 mm pistols accounted for 28.5% of pistol seizures in the region; by 2023, this rose to 50.5%. Revolvers, conversely, dropped from 42.2% to 37.6%. In São Paulo, the trend mirrors this: 9 mm pistols went from 8.4% to 37.2% of total pistol seizures, with 273 cases in 2018 versus 1,305 in 2023.
Seized weapons are newer, pointing to quick influx from the legal market into crime. In São Paulo state, captures of models made up to two years before the incident increased from 170 in 2018 to 843 in 2023. Rifles also rose: 4,444 in the Southeast, including 910 in São Paulo, lifting their share from 0.9% to 1.5% of local seizures.
Homemade weapons declined over the period. One of Bolsonaro's decrees allowed hunters, shooters, and collectors (CACs) to buy up to 5,000 rounds annually for permitted guns and 1,000 for restricted ones like rifles. This enabled straw buyer schemes, as per a TCU report identifying 2,579 deceased CACs and 9,387 with active arrest warrants.
Bruno Langeani, the study's coordinator, stated: 'These were absurd quantities, beyond any reasonableness, enabling straw buyer schemes.' Bolsonaro justified the policies as protecting freedom, arguing that arming citizens would safeguard democracy. Lula, revoking the decrees, labeled them 'criminal' and blamed them for heightened insecurity.
In São Paulo, 31.8% of seizures happened in homes, with highways key for interstate weapon trafficking.