School attackers obtain weapons mainly at home – 05/22/2023 – Education

In 6 out of 11 attacks on Brazilian schools in which firearms were used, the perpetrators obtained them at home.

This is one of the conclusions of an unprecedented study by the Sou da Paz Institute. In it, police reports and lawsuits were analyzed.

In all, firearms were present in 11 of the 24 attacks registered in the country since 2002. Their use caused 34 deaths and left 57 injured.

In these 11 attacks, 15 weapons were used (ten revolvers, three pistols and two pistols). Of these, nine originated from the aggressor’s own home and belonged to their parents or another family member.

Of the 15 weapons, 9 had identified legal registration, 6 of which were demonstrably registered by a relative who worked in the security area (police officer, expert, guard).

Another three were taken from the legal owner and resold, as in the case of the attack on a school in Sobral, Ceará, in which a sports shooter was arrested on suspicion of having illegally sold his gun to the father of the teenage aggressor.

For researchers, this information points to the urgency of tightening the control and inspection policy for the purchase of firearms.

They defend the need, for example, to oblige gun owners to prove secure storage places, such as safes, that prevent easy access for children and adolescents.

“The greater circulation of weapons and ammunition in the country may be a facilitating factor for the attacks. Even if the current government acts to curb this banalization of access to weapons, we need to be clear that Bolsonaro’s policy will leave an inheritance for years. weapons that are already in homes will remain there”, says Bruno Langeani, manager of Sou da Paz and one of those responsible for the study.

In July last year, the number of firearms in the hands of people registered as CAC (Collector, Sport Shooter and Hunter) reached 1 million.

Among the 11 firearm attacks, there were two in 2011, two in 2019 and two in 2022. The rest occurred in 2002, 2003, 2012, 2017 and 2018 (one in each year).

In all, the study analyzed 24 attacks on schools that occurred across the country, from the first record in October 2002 to April 2023. The attacks resulted in 45 deaths (75.5% of them caused by firearms) and 92 injuries. (62% hit by gunfire).

The work also shows that attacks in which the perpetrators used firearms had three times more deaths.

“These data show how crucial gun control is to reduce the lethality of these attacks. The perpetrators of crimes of this type want to reach the highest number of victims and they know that, with weapons, they will be able to achieve this objective more easily”, says Langeani.

The analysis also points out that, in some cases, the authors had access to weapons encouraged by their parents. This is the case of the 16-year-old teenager who invaded and shot students and teachers at two schools in Aracruz (ES). The police identified that the father himself, who is a military policeman, taught the boy how to shoot.

For Rafael Alcadipani, professor at FGV (Getulio Vargas Foundation) and member of the Brazilian Public Security Forum, the data show that it is necessary to have public policies that limit the use of firearms by the population as much as possible.

The teacher mentions, as a priority, the return of campaigns for disarmament, the purchase of weapons from civilians by the government and the awareness of security professionals through better training to discourage situations like the one in Aracruz, in which young people were taught to shoot by the father.

“Firearms and minors don’t go together, you can’t expect that a young person, who doesn’t have a fully formed character yet, can have a gun nearby”, says Alcadipani. He recalls that the fight against attacks on schools, however, should not be done just by restricting the purchase of weapons.

“It is necessary to curb any and all elements that facilitate [atentados]it’s not just firearms: you need to have a culture of peace in schools, dialogue with students to understand what they are going through, psychological and social care in schools.”

The study identified that, in at least 20 attacks, the perpetrators planned the crime for weeks or months, which reinforces that these are not impulsive actions. They also found information on the internet that helped them commit the attack.

Another common point that points to premeditation is the aesthetic imitation between the authors. In five cases, the same skull mask, a symbol used by various neo-Nazi groups, was chosen by the attackers to be used in the attacks.

The month of April, when the Columbine (USA) and Realengo (RJ) massacres took place, is also the month with the most attacks in the country. This connection also appears in materials found with the authors.

“Knowing that these attacks are, in general, premeditated, gives us an important opportunity for prevention. If the school and the families pay attention to the signs, this aggression can be contained”, says the researcher.

In several cases, the aggressors had a history of violence within the school, had made threats to teachers and classmates or made misogynistic and racist attacks. All recorded attacks in the country were committed by men or boys.

“In addition to facilitating access to weapons, we have had in recent years a rhetoric that violence is acceptable against those who are considered enemies. In most cases, the perpetrators had a hate speech against women, blacks. It takes a broad policy to contain these attacks,” says Langeani.

For researchers, this information points to actions that can be developed in the country to prevent attacks of this type. For example, training education professionals to identify behaviors that needed intervention from the mental health area.

They also reinforce the need for change in Brazilian legislation to hold social media platforms accountable for lack of moderation of extremist content, delay or lack of response in cases of complaint.