unregistered gun owners are “potential targets” of the PF

The federal government announced with pomp at a press conference that nearly 6,700 hunters, shooters and collectors (CACs) who missed the deadline for re-registering their weapons have become “potential targets” of the Federal Police. The deadline for re-registration ended on Wednesday (3).

Justice Minister Flávio Dino put pressure on, stating that 50 people had been arrested on Thursday (4). However, they were not detained just because they had irregular documents, but because they had open arrest warrants – for crimes such as murder, robbery and drug trafficking.

The government’s explanation for carrying out the operation now against these people is that whoever has an open arrest warrant does not meet the suitability requirement, necessary to own a weapon.

The minister used this argument to criticize the previous administration and insinuate that the suspects were able to buy weapons legally. But he did not say whether the crimes committed by the detained suspects took place before or after the purchase of the weapons in question. Dino also did not explain why the police had not made these arrests sooner, as these people were wanted and had outstanding warrants.

“The law was not being complied with. In many of these CAC cases, we verified that the weapon was legal, but the person who owned the weapon was not within the law. This cannot happen anymore,” said the minister.

Dino was also unclear about what will happen to people who haven’t re-registered their guns but don’t have outstanding arrest warrants. He said that now the police will “search” for the owners of 6,668 guns “who are potential targets of the Federal Police for being in the act of committing a crime”. The question remains whether they will be caught red-handed, whether they will respond freely or whether they will just lose ownership of the weapons.

already the Brazil Agencythe state news agency, gave a clue by publishing a report with the statement: “weapons that have not been re-registered may be subject to administrative seizure and the owners may be criminally liable for carrying or illegally possessing a weapon, according to the Ministry of Justice”.

New decree and more restrictions

On another front, Dino said this Thursday (4th) that the new decree of the Lula government that will regulate the granting of new authorizations for clubs and shooting schools, and that the new registrations of CACs will be “much more restrictive”. In addition, the government is considering taxing the sector. The expectation is that the text will be published by Lula later this month of May.

“We have always made it clear that we have a directive that won at the polls and that is represented by President Lula. We have Supreme Court decisions, and these are the decisions that are backing us up. So we will not make a misaligned decree with the law. and with what the Federal Supreme Court interpreted. What we can say is that it will be a strongly restrictive decree”, said Dino.

Also in early January, President Lula signed a decree suspending registrations for the acquisition and transfer of arms and ammunition by CACs and private individuals, and also restricted the amount of weapons and ammunition for permitted use. In addition, it suspended the granting of new club and shooting school registrations and the granting of new CAC registrations.

According to data presented by the Federal Police, 933,233 weapons, out of a total of 939,154 registered, were re-registered in the National Weapons System (Sinarm). “We are going to follow the proposal to restrict access to weapons because re-registration reinforces this need. We are talking about a country that has 939,000 re-registered weapons. This is greater than the collection of virtually all military police in the country. That is, already we have many weapons in private hands”, he said.

Government is considering taxing and restricting the hours of shooting clubs across the country

The draft of the new regulation decree will be presented by the working group of the Ministry of Justice to President Lula by the 15th of this month. According to Dino, the group met with various representatives of shooting clubs, shooting sports federations, human rights entities and entities that study public safety.

“This was the way we found to listen to them, but it does not mean that we are going to agree. We have always made it clear that we have a guideline that won at the polls”, said the Minister of Justice.

According to Dino, the government does not intend to end the arms trade in the country, but to improve the criteria for obtaining weapons. In addition to new rules for the sale of firearms, the proposal should also moderate the functioning of shooting clubs.

At this point, there is a suggestion of restricting the opening hours of establishments and the creation of taxes for the sector. “There are several proposals, but there is still no definition because, obviously, it is up to the President of the Republic”, said the minister.

Recently, Deputy Alencar Santana (PT-SP) presented a proposal that provides for the creation of a tax on ownership of firearms, like the IPVA on vehicles. The Federal Tax on Firearms Ownership (IPAF) would have a rate of 20% and would be annual. The parliamentarian has already indicated that he intends to seek the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to ask for urgency in the vote.

Security caucus mobilizes to try to soften the decree on weapons

Despite Flávio Dino’s indications about the expansion of restrictions on arms sales in the country, members of the security caucus in the National Congress are mobilizing to try to reach an agreement with the federal government. Currently, two members of the Chamber and two senators are part of the working group of the Ministry of Justice that discusses the regulation decree.

According to deputy Alberto Fraga (PL-DF), parliamentarians work with the possibility of returning to the rules that were established in the government of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT). At the time, Dilma’s proposal wanted to facilitate the renewal of the use of weapons, establishing new rules for granting registrations.

In the idea of ​​​​the security bench, Lula’s decree would include permission to carry weapons on the way from home to shooting clubs, a section that did not exist in the 2015 proposal.

“He [Dino] he has been talking to us and in these conversations he has shown sensitivity to try to solve the problem. We are negotiating for him to use Dilma Rousseff’s decree, adding nine millimeter calibers and point 40”, defended the deputy.

In the parliamentarian’s assessment, it is necessary to discipline the issue of CACs, but without completely restricting the person’s right to acquire weapons. “It’s not restricting and ending. There is the figure of the acquired right and the right to property, which he cannot trample with a decree”, completed Fraga.

Also at the end of April, the Public Security Committee of the Chamber approved a project that suspended Lula’s first decrees. The proposal, however, was not appreciated by the plenary of the House after an agreement for negotiation with the government.

“We are waiting for this new decree, because Dino promised us to study our requests carefully. If this new text comes as restrictive as he is saying, we will certainly enter with a new project to stop the government decree”, Fraga said.