“Lula takes a new step to disarm law-abiding citizens,” says Bolsonaro

When commenting on the presidential decree that increases taxes on weapons and ammunition from 29.25% to 55%, former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said that “Lula takes a new step to disarm law-abiding citizens”.

“Lula and his MJ, who enter areas taken over by drug trafficking without proportional security from the state, take another step to disarm law-abiding citizens”, wrote Bolsonaro on the social network X, this Wednesday (1).

The former president also associated his government’s pro-gun policy with the drop in the number of firearm deaths recorded during his term.

“In the Jair Bolsonaro government, which has always defended legal weapons for the population, the number of deaths from firearms in the country decreased by almost 1/3 throughout his term”, added the former president.

The decree signed by Lula reestablishes the tax rates that were changed in July 2022 by Bolsonaro.

The government estimates that the measure could have potential revenue of around R$342 million in 2024, R$377 million in 2025 and R$414 million in 2026, a total of R$1.1 billion.

According to a statement from Palácio do Planalto, “the measure is in line with a conceptual perspective of disarmament of the civilian population, re-registration of weapons in circulation and combating crime. The policy for re-registering permitted and restricted-use weapons resulted in 939,000 weapons re-registered by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in five months, 99% of the total.”