PF will outsource weapons registration bureaucracy and generates fear

The Federal Police (PF) opened a tender this month, with an estimated value of R$37 million, to hire outsourced typists to help manage data from hunters, shooters and collectors (CACs). The measure is generating concern among jurists and experts who defend the sector. They fear that the handling of sensitive data by temporary employees could result in the exposure of sensitive information.

The tender seeks to make up for the PF’s lack of personnel to operate the weapons control system, whose management was transferred from the Army to the Federal Police by decree 11,615/2023. This decree establishes the gradual transition of firearms inspection from the CACs to the PF until January of next year. With this, the PF will become responsible for registering CACs, authorizing the purchase and sale of weapons, granting traffic guides, supervising the activities of CACs and supervising and controlling trade for individuals.

Experts point out that temporary hiring to deal with confidential information about weapons, with contracts lasting up to two years, can increase the risk of leaks, compromising both the security of the CACs and the public security system.

Selling data to organized crime is one of the risks highlighted

The hiring of more than 500 outsourced employees to deal with sensitive weapons registration data in Brazil has raised alarm among security experts. Prosecutor Luciano Lara, a specialist in criminal sciences and creator of the Bê-a-bá do Tiro channel, points out that this measure could facilitate the manipulation or even the sale of CAC data to criminal organizations.

“The risk of this data being sold or manipulated is real, especially because it is easier to corrupt or co-opt an outsourced employee than a career employee,” said Lara in an interview with Gazeta do Povo.

Lara highlights the vulnerability that arises when information about weapons collections, addresses and CAC profiles are accessed by people without the proper training or ethical commitment that public service requires. He warns that this exposure poses a threat to the safety of gun owners and public safety in general.

In addition to possible fraud or misuse, the leak of confidential information can turn gun owners into targets for specialized gangs. “This data can fall into the wrong hands, such as those of criminal organizations, and turn CACs into easy targets,” said jurist Fabrício Rebelo, a specialist in gun law. For him, outsourcing only increases the risks for gun owners in the country.

“There is a clear disregard for the sensitivity of the data inherent to this management, considering that, through them, it is possible to obtain detailed information about weapons collections, their location and even security conditions, elements that, if leaked, not only expose the CAC itself to a criminal attack as it will have a negative impact on public security, allowing criminals to have access to these artifacts”, says the jurist.

Rebelo also criticizes the transfer of management of the CACs from the Army to the Federal Police, highlighting that this contradicts the Disarmament Statute, which attributes this responsibility to the Army. According to him, this change could only be made through legal amendment and not by decree, as was done by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

He further states that the technical cooperation agreement between the Army and PF to formalize this transfer is an inadequate instrument, as such a document does not have sufficient normative value.

“If there is no structure for this transfer of management, it simply should not be done, notably because, in addition to being illegal, there is not a single technical argument that justifies it, which ends up giving the measure the appearance of pure ideological persecution of the segment” , he opines.

President of the Security Commission criticizes government management in the area

Federal deputy Alberto Fraga (PL-DF), president of the Chamber’s Security Committee, also took a stance against the decision to outsource the management of weapons data. For him, the Lula government demonstrates a “total incapacity” to manage the National Weapons System by opting to hire subcontractors to carry out this service.

“It is regrettable that the government insists on disarming law-abiding citizens, instead of fighting the weapons of criminals. The outsourcing of this system only shows the federal government’s lack of preparation to deal with public security issues”, he states. “We all knew that the PF did not have the necessary structure to manage this transfer, and the result would be chaos”, he concluded.

New gun rules harm CACs and shooting clubs

The measures provided for in the government’s 2023 anti-gun decree have already directly affected the functioning of shooting clubs and the daily lives of CACs. From January 2025, new rules imposed by the government must come into force, such as restricting the opening hours of shooting clubs and limiting the transport of weapons, which makes sports practice and the routine of shooters difficult.

Critics point out that the Lula government is deliberately imposing a siege on CACs and shooting clubs, making the right to access and own weapons even more difficult. “These measures are absurd. The government is restricting the right to transport weapons and imposing severe control over shooting clubs, harming a segment that already faces considerable obstacles”, criticizes prosecutor Luciano Lara.

One of the main problems regarding shooting clubs, according to Lara, is the issue imposed by the presidential decree that clubs must be at least one kilometer away from educational institutions, which will make the sector unviable.

The prosecutor also points out that a presidential decree could not deal with land occupation, as in the case of the location of clubs, since it is up to the municipalities to legislate in this case.

What the Ministry of Justice says

Questioned by People’s Gazettethe Ministry of Justice confirmed that the Federal Police opened a bidding process to hire typists to, among other demands, provide support to CACs. The ministry also informed that it requested the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services to hold a competition for administrative and police employees.

Regarding a possible risk of leaking sensitive data of gun owners, the ministry did not comment.

Senate may analyze text that suspends part of the decree on weapons

While the transfer of data provided for by the presidential decree that determined the change of information on weapons registration from the Army to the Federal Police is being discussed, parliamentarians are also trying to change other points of Lula’s anti-gun decree, such as the issue of distance from shooting clubs of educational institutions.

A draft legislative decree approved in a symbolic vote in the Chamber continues to await analysis by the Federal Senate. The text was processed urgently, but was removed from the plenary agenda after an agreement with the leaders, and there is an expectation that the text will be discussed again after the first round of municipal elections.

There is also the possibility that the government will send a new text to the Senate correcting the points questioned by parliamentarians. The government leader in the House, senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), said that he had already talked about it with Lula.

According to the leader, another point that can be changed with a new decree is the issue of changing the category of weapons. The current decree prohibits the use of restricted firearms for activities other than those declared at purchase.

Another point that can be changed is the current requirement that historic firearms and those that are part of collections be declared by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan).