Surveillance of CACs by the Army decreases during the Lula government

The Brazilian Army reduced inspection operations aimed at CACs (Hunters, Shooters and Collectors of Firearms) during the first six months of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), according to a survey released this Wednesday (23 ) by the newspaper The state of Sao Paulo.

According to the publication, 4,433 CACs underwent inspections in the period, which results in a monthly average of 738. This contrasts with the four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) government, in which the lowest monthly average was 875, in 2020, when 10,505 individuals underwent inspection procedures. Last year, that number rose to 21,222.

This decrease occurred at a time when control over the possession of weapons was transferred from the military to the Federal Police. The slower pace of inspection contradicts the narrative of the Lula government, which advocates strict control over firearms, in a universe of more than 800,000 CACs across the country.

Measures to restrict access to weapons were centralized in the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, who was at the forefront of drafting decrees related to weapons and a national re-registration of the CACs arsenal coordinated by the PF.

The re-registration, carried out online and in a self-declaratory manner, was not complied with by all the CACs and ended the established deadline with a deficit of around 6.1 thousand weapons for restricted use, in addition to another 1.7 thousand that were not presented according to the regulation.

Although the re-registration represented a civilian gun control action, it focused on weapons acquired after May 2019 and did not eliminate the Army’s obligation to oversee CACs. It was up to the military to verify the regularity of the weapons and ammunition of these groups, in addition to checking the security of the places where the weapons were kept and examining documents that proved the legal transfer of the weapons.

The Ministry of Justice, the Federal Police and the Army were contacted by the People’s Gazette to explain the decrease in the pace of inspection of CACs, but did not respond until the close of the report.

to the newspaper The state of Sao Paulo, the Army stated that the reduction in inspections was influenced by the decrees, which required internal adjustments in procedures. The institution added that actions will be prioritized in the second half.

The Federal Police, on the other hand, declared that the transition of attributions is still in progress and that the Army is best suited at the moment to provide information on the inspection of the CACs.