ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESAR

Transcription

1 O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO IMPLEMENTING DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO BRAZIL S DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO DISARMAMENT ESTATUTO STATUTE : DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESTATUTO PUTTING DO DESARMAMENTO LAW INTO PRACTICE ESTATUTO DO DESAR O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESAR O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATU TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESAR O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO Support: ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESAR

2 O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAM ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DE O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAM ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DE O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO EST TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAM ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DE O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN O DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMA ESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAMEN ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO ESTATUTO DO DESARMAM

3 MENTO TO MENTO TO ENTO SARMAMENTO MENTO TO MENTO TO ENTO SARMAMENTO INDEX INTRODUCTION THE DISARMAMENT STATUTE Main measures set forth by the law State attributions: who does what? Categories that may possess guns and who controls them 060 MENTO ATUTO DO DESARMAMENTO TO 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS Positive impacts of the law Overview of firearms in Brazil Main problems in implementing the law 130 MENTO 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 300 TO ENTO SARMAMENTO MENTO TO MENTO TO ENTO

4 Introduction In no other country do more people die due to firearms than Brazil. The country represents 2.8% of the global population, but accounts for 13% of the deaths due to armed violence in the world. According to the Map of Violence of Brazilian Municipalities, over half a million Brazilians lost their lives to gun homicides between 1996 and The main victims of homicides are young males, between the ages of 15 and 24, living in the slums ( favelas ), and in the outskirts of the large urban centers. Easy access to firearms, deficient gun control legislation, and inefficient public policies aggravated this situation. In 2003, according to DATASUS health statistics, about 40 thousand Brazilians died from firearms. In December of 2003, after intense dialogue between the State and civil society organizations, Brazil s National Congress approved the Disarmament Statute, legislation with 37 articles foreseeing strict control of all phases of the circulation of firearms and ammunition in the country from production, to destruction, to carrying and owning firearms. Midway through 2004, when the Statute finally entered into effect, the measures set forth in the Statute began to be put into practice and, during its first year of implementation, estimates show the law was able to prevent five thousand deaths. 2 Having participated in the process that culminated in the approval of the Disarmament Statute and having struggled to defend the law in Congress, Instituto Sou da Paz perceived that some of the articles of the law were being implemented by authorities while others had not been put into practice. Additionally, implementation seemed to vary from one State to another, despite the fact this is a federal law. For these reasons, between 2008 and 2009, Sou da Paz conducted a national research study on the implementation of the Disarmament Statute and produced a set of recommendations for government instances responsible for implementing the law. The study was done in collaboration with organizations from the Brazilian Disarmament Network, 3 which have intimate knowledge of the realities of each State and the power to continue monitoring the law in the future. The Disarmament Statute is undoubtedly difficult to enforce and monitor, as its standards set forth obligations for a variety of public agencies or entities (Federal, Civil and Military Police, Judiciary, Army) and for private legal entities (weapons and ammunition stores and industries, private security companies and shooting clubs, for example). To assess if the Statute is being properly upheld, nevertheless, is a necessary task to make Brazil a safer country. The study consisted of detailed data collection through interviews with civil servants from a variety of agencies, access to reports and official information, as well as information obtained through media and publications. The study was conducted in ten Brazilian States (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo, Ceará, Pernambuco, Pará and the Federal District - Brasília). In each State researchers attempted to carry out interviews with all relevant agencies for gun control: the Federal Police, Civil Police, Military Police and the Army (through the SFPC Serviço de Fiscalização de Produtos Controlados). Interviews were also carried out with federal 02

5 INTRODUCTION authorities in Brasilia, such as those responsible for the SINARM 4 of the Federal Police and for the Diretoria de Fiscalização de Produtos Controlados (DFPC) of the Army, as well as important actors in the public security sector within the Ministry of Justice. Given the fact that certain government instances do not regularly engage in dialogue with civil society, it was only possible to talk to all of the aforementioned actors and/or to collect responses from the interviewees to all the questions posed, in a few States. Thus, a comparative study, State by State, proved impossible. Therefore this analysis seeks to demonstrate the general trends in the implementation of the Disarmament Statute. The most cited sources in the study, the Army -DFPC and the Federal Police-SINARM, were sent a first draft of the report, in order to allow clarifications or comments on the information published. The comments received were taken into account in the final report. The report in its entirety is available at ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ford Foundation, Ana Toni, Gleice Sanches, Rede Desarma Brasil, Shelley Simis de Botton, Patrícia Henzell, Cel. Luiz Brenner Guimarães, Serguem Jessui Machado, Ademir Soares de Oliveira, Eduardo Teodósio Quadros, Everardo Aguiar, Irmã Marie Henriqueta, José Luis Ventura Leal. Cel. Clóvis Ilha, Edsom Ortega, Fernando Duran, General Pedroza Rêgo, Marcus Vinícius Dantas, Pedro Abramovay, Túlio Kahn, Diretoria de Fiscalização de Produtos Controlados (DFPC) do Exército Brasileiro, Diretoria de Combate ao Crime Organizado da Polícia Federal (DCOR) / Divisão de Repressão ao Tráfico Ilícito de Armas da Polícia Federal (DARM)/ Sistema Nacional de Registro de Armas (SINARM), DELEARM/PF da Bahia, DELEARM/PF do Ceará, DELEARM/PF de Espírito Santo, DELEARM/PF de Minas Gerais, DELEARM/PF do Pará, DELEARM/PF do Paraná, Polícia Federal de Pernambuco, DELEARM/PF do Rio Grande do Sul, DELEARM/PF de São Paulo, DELESP/ PF de São Paulo, Guarda Civil Metropolitana de São Paulo, Guarda Civil Municipal de Barueri, Polícia Civil do Ceará - DAME, Polícia Civil do Distrito Federal - DAME, Polícia Civil do Espírito Santo DAME e Divisão de Homicídios, Polícia Judiciária Civil do Mato Grosso, Polícia Civil de Minas Gerais, Polícia Civil do Pará, Polícia Civil do Paraná - DEAM, Polícia Civil de Pernambuco, Polícia Civil do Rio Grande do Sul - DAME, Polícia Civil do Rio de Janeiro - DFAE, Polícia Civil de São Paulo DPC, Polícia Militar do Espírito Santo, Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais, Polícia Militar de Pernambuco, Brigada Militar do Rio Grande do Sul, Secretaria de Defesa Social de Minas Gerais, Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Espírito Santo, Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Rio Grande do Sul, Secretaria de Segurança Pública de São Paulo, Sindicato das Empresas de Segurança e Transporte de Valores do Paraná, SFPC da 10ª Região Militar (Ceará e Piauí), SFPC da 7ª Região Militar (Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco e Alagoas), SFPC da 1ª Região Militar (Espírito Santo). This report is dedicated to the late Pablo Gabriel Dreyfus, a key figure in all the relevant studies on gun control in the country, and one of the most respected professionals worldwide on this issue. 03

6 1. THE DISARMAMENT STATUTE 1.1 Main measures set forth by the law: seven minimum requirements to purchase a weapon, including increasing the minimum age from 21 to 25, mandatory psychological and shooting (technical) tests, effective proof of the need for a weapon, and absence of a criminal record; centralized gun registration and authorization to purchase and possess weapons with the Federal Police, as well as improvement of SINARM (federal database that should contain information on weapons and their owners registered throughout the country); greater control over the sale of ammunition, carried out only by registered shop owners and in boxes with bar codes for identification, with a maximum limit of 50 bullets per year for registered civilians; greater control on the ammunition acquired by police forces, which should be marked on the bottom rim of the bullet casing, identifying the specific police force that purchased the ammunition; ban on civilians carrying a gun. Registered and authorized possession that is, having a weapon legally in your home continues to be allowed, but it is no longer permitted to carry a gun (with very rare exceptions); arms trafficking codified as a specific crime that differs from trafficking of other products; integration between the two main registry databases on firearms in the country, SIGMA (Army database) and SINARM (Federal Police registry); creation of a ballistics database that will register the unique markings imprinted on the bullet by each gun produced in the country, allowing for tracing the bullet to its origin. 1.2 State attributions: who does what? The Disarmament Statute and its complementary legislation determine concessions and responsibilities for individuals and legal entities, as well as for several government instances. Most of these pertain to the Federal Executive, notably the Brazilian Army and the Federal Police. Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army can be deemed the main actor in the national weapons control system. Aspects of paramount importance to ensure that firearms are not diverted to the illegal market or that allow for tracing guns back to their origin if they fall into the wrong hands are the exclusive responsibility of the Army. For example: 04

7 1. THE DISARMAMENT STATUTE destruction of guns seized or turned over voluntarily. The Army should receive all seized guns from police forces and destroy them within 48 hours when they are no longer needed as evidence in criminal hearings, transportation of weapons from the manufacturing plants to stores, police and ports for export. In addition, the Army is responsible for authorizing and supervising the production and trade of arms and ammunition, as well as for controlling categories that have their weapons registered in the SIGMA Sistema de Gerenciamento Militar de Armas (Military Management System for Firearms); import of weapons and ammunition for both restricted and permitted use, be it by the Armed Forces or police, collectors, sports shooters or hunters; supervision of exports of weapons and ammunition. The Army is responsible for the SIGMA, the database with all the information regarding firearms of restricted use; from hunters, collectors, sports shooters, the Armed Forces, the Military Police and firemen (institutional and personal weapons); from ABIN (Federal intelligence agents); among others. Federal Police The Federal Police holds responsibility for the control of firearms in the hands of the civilian population. Through SINARM, their obligation is to register and issue authorization for the purchase or possession of weapons for civilians the core foundation of the control system. Before the Statute, this was done in a decentralized fashion by the Civil Police in each Brazilian State. Centralizing and unifying the process with the Federal Police constituted a definite move forward. The Federal Police is responsible for registering the firearms of the Civil Police and of the Municipal Guards in SINARM, and for authorizing carrying licenses for the Municipal Guards when permitted. It also holds responsibility over the registration of weapons and employees of private security companies 5, and for their supervision and authorization. With the advent of the Disarmament Statute, in order to take firearms out of circulation, the federal government launched voluntary gun buy-back campaigns. The Federal Police have also played a central role in these campaigns by taking on responsibility for receiving and registering the weapons turned over (in some cases, in partnership with State police forces and Municipal Guards). The Federal Police manages the SINARM database, which stores all of the information regarding firearms in the following categories: civilians, Metropolitan Civil Guards in municipalities authorized to carry guns (for municipalities with over 50 thousand inhabitants or part of major metropolitan regions); institutional and personal weapons for the Civil Police and the Federal Police; Federal Highway Police; guns of private security companies; and, weapons used in escorting prisoners and the seaport guards. 05

8 State Police Forces and State Secretaries of Public Security State police forces (civil and military) are required to relay the characteristics and circumstance underlying all gun seizures to the Federal Police, where the data should be inserted in the SINARM national database. The state police forces must also provide necessary support to the Army in its oversight of gun and ammunition commerce, in the identification of individuals or private companies carrying out activities with an unregistered weapon, as well as in investigations in the case of accidents or explosions caused by the storage or mishandling of firearms. Finally, it is their duty to apprehend weapons involved in crimes or illegal situations and refer these to the Judiciary or send them to the Army to be destroyed. Judiciary In accordance with Article 25 of the Statute, when they are no longer of interest for criminal prosecution [the firearms] shall be turned over by the judge to the Army, within a period of 48 hours. If the decision is made to donate the weapons to police forces (depending on the criteria established by the Ministry of Justice and the Army) a change in the Statute determined by Act in 2008 the competent judge will also determine their forfeiture to the institution benefited. It is also an attribution of the Judiciary Power to institute instruments to remit to SINARM or to SIGMA (...) every semester a list of the weapons apprehended and stored by the court, specifying their characteristics and their storage location. 1.3 Categories that may possess guns and who controls them Categories How many firearms are allowed? How much ammunition can be bought? Where is the weapon registered? Is carrying permitted or prohibited? Civilians Up to 6 firearms 50 units a year for each weapon registered SINARM Prohibited Military Police (for their own personal use) Up to 3 weapons every 2 years, including one of restricted use 600 units per year for each firearm registered SIGMA Allowed, including off duty Civil Police (for their own personal use) Up to 3 weapons every 2 years, including one of restricted use 600 units per year for each firearm registered SINARM Allowed, including off duty Federal Police (for their own personal use) Up to 3 weapons every 2 years, including one of restricted use (Including calibers.357 Magnum, 9x19mm,.40 S&W e.45 ACP) 600 units per year for each firearm registered SINARM Allowed, including off duty 06

9 1. THE DISARMAMENT STATUTE Municipal Guard (Institutional use) Armed Forces (for their own personal use) Private security companies Collectors Sports Shooters Hunters Non restricted firearms and 12 caliber rifles, up to a maximum of 10% of the staff Up to 3 weapons every 2 years, including one of restricted use Calibers 32 or 38; in the case of armed escort for securities transportation, repeating rifle or projectile caliber 38, rifles in permitted calibers 12, 16 or 20, and semi-automatic pistols caliber.380 "Short" and 7,65 mm As many weapons as can be safely stored including calibers of restricted use, according to the level of the collector Up to 12 firearms, including 4 of restricted use (with limitations of calibers) Maximum of 12 weapons for hunting as a sport 100 units per year for each weapon 600 units per year for each firearm registered [Stockpile] At least two and a maximum of three loads for each weapon One cartridge for each firearm model or obsolete ammunition boxes A maximum of 300 rounds of sports ammunition for caliber.22, and a maximum of 200 rounds of calibers calibers: 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 9.1mm per month A maximum of 200 rounds a month, of calibers: 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 9.1mm SINARM SIGMA SINARM SIGMA SIGMA SIGMA In cities between 50 thousand and 500 thousand inhabitants, only on duty. Over 500 thousand inhabitants: Full time For officers in service in the Army carrying is allowed (on and off duty) Only on duty Prohibitted Prohibited. In the case of competitions, they must seek transportations documentation with the SFPC Permitted only when actively hunting, with proper documentation issued by the Military Command Note: There is no information regarding institutional firearms for the Military, Civil and Federal Police, as for these institutions the Army establishes the allocations of arms and ammunition. This information can only be found in reserved and inaccessible documents. 07

10 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS 2.1 Positive impacts of the law Strict criteria for the acquisition of firearms lead to a drop in number of guns in circulation As a result of the new requirements for purchasing firearms, the legal market for such artifacts suffered a decline, leading to a reduction of more than 90% in gun sales, which contributed to the consequent bankruptcy of the large majority of gun shops. According to the president of the National Association of Gun Owners and Dealers (Aniam), in 2008 the segment sold only 10% of the volume sold in In 2009, according to the Federal Police, only 15,927 new weapons were purchased legally in stores throughout the country. 7 As has been proven by the Parliamentary Investigative Committee on Firearm Trafficking, legal weapons continue to be the main source for the illegal market and crime: 68% of the guns apprehended with criminals and traced to their origin had been first sold legally in stores. 8 Therefore, reducing the number of legal weapons in circulation has an impact on the illegal market as well. A recent study carried out by researcher Daniel Cerqueira, from the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), with the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) in Rio de Janeiro, utilizing the data from the State of São Paulo between 2001 and 2007, demonstrates that decreasing the number of firearms in the hands of the population (legal as well as illegal) had a direct impact on homicides and suicides committed. The study shows that even the number of deaths taking place in the victims homes have decreased in São Paulo. The researcher concluded that the new limitations on firearm acquisition, as well as measures to remove guns from circulation (detailed below), have a direct correlation with this reduction. The study estimated that the contrary is also true: for a 1% increase of firearms in the hands of the population, there is a 2% growth in homicides. 9 In addition to reducing the number of firearms in circulation, the more rigorous requirements for buying a gun also seem to have impacted the illegal market, as weapons have become scarcer, and consequently more costly. According to a director from SINARM, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, a 38 caliber revolver, which before the Statute cost R$ 80 on the streets, after the gun law had increased in price to R$ In São Paulo, a 9mm pistol, previously valued at least at R$ 800 in the illegal market, is now worth R$ 1,300, while in Rio de Janeiro an automatic shotgun, formerly sold at US$ 6 thousand, now costs between U$ 30 and U$ 40 thousand, a 500% increase

11 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS How are the shooting and psychological tests being enforced in practice? Regarding the criteria set forth by the Disarmament Statute for the acquisition of a firearm, there is evidence that the shooting and psychological tests are being carried out in a more rigorous manner, with significant advances when it comes to their standardization and increased control over registered psychologists and shooting instructors by the Federal Police. 12 The Federal Council on Psychology has determined that the evaluation cannot be carried out by psychologists at public and private institutions whose agents have (commercial, economic, administrative or personal) interests in the assessment results. Additionally, the council has determined that it is inappropriate and detrimental if the psychologist accredited by the Federal Police and candidates that will undergo the psychological evaluation have any type of prior tie. 13 Currently, citizens that fail the psychological test can take it as many times as they wish. However, a new regulation will allow people to retake the test only once and within 45 days. The Federal Police have not shared information on the percentage of people who fail the exam (although this information is required to be filed in the SINARM) as most of these processes are still done on paper. 14 For the shooting test, instructors have to be accredited by the Federal Police. A recent addition to the law (2009) created the National Commission for Shooting Instructors (CONAT) from the Federal Police, whose members shooting instructors from the Federal Police, teachers at the National Police Academy travel throughout Brazil to apply very stringent tests (practical and written) for instructors looking to be accredited in each State. This explains the low number of accredited instructors: 15 in Rio Grande do Sul and 30 in São Paulo, for example. Ban on carrying for civilians impacts homicides in the country More thorough requirements for civilians to acquire a firearm has had an impact on the reduction in firearm homicides in Brazil. In this sense, it is important to highlight the role of the ban on civilians carrying a firearm - one of the measures that came into effect immediately after the law was sanctioned. This is one of the main factors singled out as being responsible for the reduction of homicides in the country after 13 years of growth. In the first year in effect alone, the Statute led to a drop of 8% in firearm related homicides in Brazil (attaining a reduction of 12% by 2006). Studies carried out by UNESCO and the Health Ministry point to the fact this drop is due largely to the prohibition of carrying weapons in the streets. 15 With less people armed on the streets, less deaths occur, mainly those which are triggered by day-to-day conflicts. 09

12 Concessions of carrying permits for civilians after the Disarmament Statute In Brazilian States: In São Paulo, the Federal Police calculate that only 260 gun carrying permits were granted between 2004 and In Espírito Santo, there were 346 carrying licenses approved between 2006 and 2009, decreasing from 205 in 2006, to 77 in 2007, 49 in 2008, and only 15 in In Minas Gerais 146 carrying permits were granted in 2007 and 48 in 2008, and in the last quarter of that year, not a single new license was granted. 18 In Brazil The total number of carrying permits for personal defense, that is, for common citizens who can prove its necessity (such as being under death threats), granted throughout the country between January and the 15th of December of 2009 was only 1,256. The total number of carrying permits (including for the Civil and Federal Police and Municipal Guards) in 2009 was 9,626. For the purpose of comparison, in the State of São Paulo alone, before the Statute, 7,387 permits for possession of firearms were issued. 19 Results in terms of reduction of homicides are more impressive in States where there is greater police commitment and efforts to identify and repress illegal possession of firearms. In the state of São Paulo, for example, homicides dropped 70% between 1999 and According to Túlio Kahn, the Coordinator of Analysis and Planning for the Public Security Secretariat in São Paulo, after the Statute less people are carrying guns on the streets and therefore, the number of weapons seized by the police has decreased considerably (even though the number of individuals searched by the police has increased). According to the Department for Controlled Products (DPC) from the Civil Police in São Paulo, ten years ago, about 15 thousand firearms were apprehended every year. The ban on carrying weapons has contributed to reducing the number of firearms being apprehended, which presently is about 9 thousand annually. 21 Increase in the number of weapons removed from circulation The Disarmament Statute has also made it possible to remove a large amount of guns from circulation through apprehension by police officers, gun buy-back campaigns and the destruction of guns carried out by the Army. For the first time in Brazil, the Statute codified the crime of firearm trafficking, which has contributed to more stringent and plentiful operations carried out by the police in search of illegal guns and ammunition. After the Statute, many States begun to implement illegal gun seizures as a priority. The formerly mentioned research from IPEA PUC estimates that, with every 18 weapons apprehended by the police in São Paulo, one life has been saved. Thus, the guns seized in São Paulo, between 2001 and 2007 are responsible for saving nearly 13,000 lives. 10

13 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS How is this being put into practice? With the aim of increasing gun seizures, several States (such as Espírito Santo, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Ceará and Sergipe) have established financial incentives for police officers who apprehend weapons. Other States have managed to prioritize apprehension through a clear political commitment by their governments. The Federal Police has carried out a plethora of operations in the last years aiming to tackle organized crime gun traffickers and their transportation schemes and structures, usually involving heavy weapons and ammunition. 22 Also noteworthy is the initiative of the Ministry of Justice which, at the end of October of 2009, presented the Project for Specialized Policing on the Borders (Pefron) with the aim of impeding illegal entrance of weapons and drugs into the country. The Ministry s initiative is based on successful experiences in States like Mato Grosso, where, in a five-year-period, through the action of police trained specially to protect the border, the amount of drug apprehensions increased by 3,300% and that of weapons by 400%. 23 The Statute also foresees the possibility of voluntary gun-buy back campaigns. Since the law was sanctioned, the federal government has deployed efforts to motivate citizens to voluntarily turn over their guns. These campaigns not only raise awareness about the problem of armed violence and reduce the demand for guns, but they also help to remove guns from circulation. Between July of 2004 and October of 2005, the first campaign removed more than 460 thousand guns from the streets. The most recent edition of the campaign, ongoing since 2008, removed another 30 thousand weapons, totaling about half a million weapons taken out of circulation. The law makes it mandatory to completely destroy guns that are voluntarily turned over or apprehended. The Brazilian Army has a record of the destruction of 1,885,910 weapons, between 1997 and If we consider the study that best estimated the number of weapons in circulation in the country, 24 this represents almost 15% of all weapons in the hands of civilians in Brazil. Centralized information on firearms throughout the country Another positive aspect of the Statute was strengthening the SINARM database, which concentrates the data on firearms belonging to civilians. The law requires centralizing this information in the hands of the Federal Police. Formerly the processes to authorize the purchase and possession of firearms were carried out in a fragmented manner by each State police force. Today, SINARM contains information referring to the entire life cycle of over 7 million firearms belonging to civilians, municipal guards and the private and institutional weapons for the Civil and Federal Police forces - from the moment in which the gun is acquired and registered, up to information on its current status: if it has been turned in voluntarily, seized, stolen, lost or recovered. Despite problems with the system that are detailed further in the pages ahead, it is important to acknowledge that strengthening this database was a significant step forward. Currently the Federal Police in any State can consult data on apprehended guns, whether stolen or involved in a crime, regardless of its origin. 11

14 2.2 Overview of firearms in Brazil Thanks to the efforts of the researchers at Instituto Sou da Paz and the contributions of the Brazilian Disarmament Network, for the first time it became possible to visualize a clear overview, albeit partial, of firearms in Brazil. This information is unprecedented and could be even more comprehensive if the agencies responsible for gun control in Brazil - especially the Army - would respond to the many requests for information and were willing to openly share their data. In a country where 70% of the homicides are committed with firearms, it is crucial to have precise data regarding the number of weapons that are in circulation, their location and who owns them. 25 The survey allowed us to arrive at the following scenario: Firearms in circulation: 7,312,227 guns are registered in the SINARM database, including those of civilians, private security companies and securities transportation companies, institutional and personal weapons for the Civil and Federal Police and Municipal Guards, weapons apprehended, stolen and some State registries (transferred to the national database); 26 There are 613,546 weapons registered in the Army database SIGMA. This number includes guns in the hands of the Military Police and the Military Firefighters (376,148 are institutional guns, 231,335 are private weapons of the military police officers and 6,063 belonging to the military firefighters); 27 There are 154,522 firearms in the SIGMA database from collectors, sports shooters and hunters, of which belong to collectors, 77,805 to sports shooters and 10,317 to hunters; 28 According to the National System for Apprehended Goods from the CNJ (National Justice Council), in court house storage across the country there are 41,277 firearms registered, of which more than 40 thousand have been classified as being in an undefined situation, only 287 have been destroyed and 351 lost. 29 Weapons removed from circulation: 1,885,910 firearms have been destroyed by the Army between 1997 and According to this data there are at least 8,080,295 firearms in the hands of the police forces and the population (sum of weapons in the SINARM and SIGMA). It is not possible to confirm if the weapons registered in the National System of Apprehended Goods of the CNJ, that are found in court house storage, are registered in the SINARM, as they should be. As we will see further ahead, data on apprehended weapons is not always conveyed or transmitted to the Federal Police. Therefore we can assume that only part of these weapons is included in the total number of weapons registered in SINARM. The fact that the information on stolen weapons, lost weapons, seized in court or apprehended by the state police is not transmitted to the Federal Police also means that the information in SINARM on the status of a given firearm is not always up to date. Besides these complications, it has been impossible to get to a more precise estimate on the number of weapons in circulation due to the absence or lack of access to the following data: 12

15 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS number of firearm licenses with each state before the Disarmament Statute that were not transferred to SINARM (which could be a rather significant number considering, for example, that in Espírito Santo up until the end of 2008 only 24% of the weapons with licenses issued by the Civil Police were transferred to SINARM); number of institutional and private weapons of the Armed Forces not made available to the researchers; universally accepted methodologies to estimate the number of illegal weapons in circulation in Brazil. 2.3 Main problems in implementing the law Despite the progress that has been achieved, through the present study it has been possible to detect the main problems preventing the complete implementation of the Disarmament Statute. Although the Statute is a federal law, part of its implementation and the desired results depend upon actions at the state level. The law s measures are not always implemented uniformly by each State, which contributes to uneven success in the fight against armed violence. a) Institutional disorganization A considerable part of the problems found in the implementation of the Disarmament Statute reflect the lack of organization of different governmental instances responsible for gun control. Another factor which regrettably became apparent during the study is that there is no political urgency or sense of priority in putting the measures of the law into practice, a fact observed especially in regards to information sharing between the Army and the Federal Police, in the integration between the SIGMA and SINARM databases and the creation of a national ballistics database. Below are some of the main difficulties encountered: Discrepancies between States in granting concessions for carrying and ownership licenses The increased difficulty to purchase a weapon and the ban on carrying for civilians, together with serious dedication by some police forces, have significantly contributed to diminishing homicide levels. Nevertheless, there are still many areas in need of improvement. One of these refers to the requirement for civilians to prove they need a weapon for personal protection. This effective need is a subjective criteria aimed at granting police authorities the ability to guarantee that, even though the objective requirements have been fulfilled, ownership or carrying licenses will not be granted unless with the candidate presents an exceptional life threatening situation. Through interviews and empirical data it was possible to conclude that in some states the Federal Police interpret this demand in a less stringent way than in others. Considering data on new guns registered and the concessions of carrying licenses is much higher 13

16 in some States, it can be assumed that there is a correlation between the large number of weapons sold and greater flexibility on the part of the Federal Police in those states. Though nationwide there is a downward trend, not only in acquisitions but in the issuing of carrying permits, these numbers are still high in some States. In 2008, the Federal District (Brasília) was responsible for 26% of all gun sales in Brazil, which led the Federal District to be known as the firearm sales champion. 31 Of the 22,451 new weapons sold in the country, 5,913 were acquired in Brasilia and its surroundings, with a population of only 2.5 million inhabitants. For the sake of comparison, in São Paulo, with over 40 million inhabitants, only 2,241 new weapons were sold in the same year. 32 Data from SINARM shows that, in 2008 as well as in 2009, the Federal District was the leader in the ranking of States with the highest number of new weapons registered per 100 thousand inhabitants and , respectively. States New firearms 2008 Table 1 - New guns registered by State(1) Rate (per 100 thousand inhabitants) New firearms registered in 2009 Rate (per 100 thousand inhabitants) Acre Alagoas Amapá Amazonas Bahia Ceará Distrito Federal 5, , Espírito Santo Goiás Maranhão Mato Grosso Mato Grosso do Sul Minas Gerais Pará Paraíba Paraná 3, , Pernambuco Piauí Rio de Janeiro 1, Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Sul 1, , Rondônia Roraima Santa Catarina 3, , São Paulo 2, , Sergipe Tocantins Total - Brazil 22, , Source: SINARM/Federal Police 01/01/2008 to 12/31/2008 and 01/01/2009 to 12/15/2009. Table by: Instituto Sou da Paz (1) New firearms acquired in stores and registered by common citizens, private security companies, public institutions and police. Population 2008 and 2009 by the IBGE. 14

17 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS Rio Grande do Sul, on the other hand, is the State with the largest number of gun stores in the country (143). 33 It is possible to conclude that, despite the limitations imposed by the Statute, interpretation of criteria is the most flexible in this State. According to the data on new weapons registered in 2009, Rio Grande do Sul occupies the 6th position in the ranking, with an index of new weapons registered per 100 thousand inhabitants. This figure is low if compared to the rates of Acre, Santa Catarina, Paraná and Tocantins (and the formerly mentioned Federal District), but is greater than the rates in São Paulo (4.62) and Rio de Janeiro (3.59), Brazil s two most populated states. On the other hand, in some States the Federal Police has interpreted the criteria for effective need more rigorously. In Espírito Santo, a letter was sent by the Federal Police in July 2009 to all gun stores in the State reinforcing that the Federal Police authorization for the purchase of new weapons was strictly contingent upon a consistent declaration of effective need, including proof of life threatening circumstances. This initiative seems to have impacted firearm sales in the state: in 2008 the rate of new weapons registered in Espírito Santo was per 100 thousand inhabitants, dropping to 6.19 in Additionally, regarding carrying permits issued to citizens, the Federal District and Rio Grande do Sul continue to lead the ranking. In 2009, the sum of the permits granted to citizens in the Federal District and in Rio Grande do Sul (608) represents almost half of the total number of permits granted throughout the country (1,256). States Table 2 Carrying licenses approved for common citizens 2009 Carrying licenses for personal defense * Rate (per100 thousand inhab.) States States carrying licenses for personal defense * Rate (per 100 thousand inhab.) Acre Paraíba 10 0 Alagoas Paraná 33 0 Amapá - - Pernambuco 11 0 Amazonas 26 0 Piauí 6 0 Bahia 78 0 Rio de Janeiro 18 0 Ceará 58 0 Rio Grande do Norte 6 0 Distrito Federal Rio Grande do Sul Espírito Santo Rondônia Goiás 22 0 Roraima 2 0 Maranhão 61 0 Santa Catarina 15 0 Mato Grosso 20 0 São Paulo 47 0 Mato Grosso do Sul 21 0 Sergipe Minas Gerais 60 0 Tocantins 1 0 Pará 23 0 Source: SINARM/Federal Police 01/01/2009 to 12/15/2009. Issued to the common citizen. Population 2009 estimated by the IBGE. Table by: Sou da Paz Institute. Total - Brasil 1,

18 Marking guns and ammunition for police forces Marking the firearms and ammunition of the public security forces allows for subsequent tracing and serves as a deterrent to diverting ammunition from the State. Marking, by the Statute s provisions, should be done by the manufacturing companies, under the supervision of the Army. However, this study reveals that the actual implementation of this measure in many instances took extremely long (and in some States still has not been adequately put in place) and should have been done five years ago, clearly a reason for concern. In some States, the study confirms that the majority of the public security forces only began receiving marked ammunition in In other States, interviewees noted they had still never seen marked ammunition. In some States, old unmarked ammunition is already being distributed to the police forces for training at the academy, but it was not possible to obtain information from all police forces on what is done with old ammunition and how new marked ammunition is being registered and controlled. Problems updating the SINARM database Before pointing out the problems regarding updating information into SINARM, it is important to acknowledge the major step forward in gun control brought about by the Disarmament Statute with information on all weapons registered by civilians in the country for the first time being centralized in one database. Despite this achievement, failure to update the database impedes the law from attaining its full potential. The information on the number of weapons registered, stolen and apprehended in each State is not fully conveyed to SINARM. Part of the problem is the indirect way in which this updating is done - the state police forces, responsible for seizing illegal weapons and documenting gun theft, do not have direct access to the SINARM database and such data is rarely passed on to the Federal Police. The chief of the state police force is required to send a document with all of the information on the stolen or apprehended firearms to the Federal Police, which only then enters the data into the system. In the case of stolen or lost weapons, the lack of data fed into SINARM is disastrous, as such weapons have gone from the legal to the illegal market, which means a total lack of information, making it possible to identify neither their origin nor their destination. Examples of discrepancies between the data registered in each State and data in SINARM (apprehended weapons): In São Paulo, the Public Security Secretariat published statistics revealing nearly 21 thousand guns seized in The national SINARM database, however, shows only 3 thousand weapons apprehended in the state during the same period. 36 The Civil and Military Police of the state of Pernambuco apprehended 6,549 firearms in In the SINARM, only 346 guns have been registered, which corresponds to a little more than 5% of all weapons apprehended

19 The information is available in each State, but is simply not passed on to the Federal Police as determined by the law, as can be observed in Table 3 below. Table 3 Firearms apprehended Comparison of data from the State police, with data in the SINARM database Rio de Janeiro São Paulo Distrito Federal Pará Ceará Mato Grosso 2. MAIN RESEARCH FINDINGS States Seseg 11,062 10,010 SINARM 2,855 1,438 SSP 23,443 20,277 SINARM 856 3,412 PC 1,865 2,364 SINARM 2,447 4,217 SSP SINARM PC 2,045 2,055 SINARM PC 1,958 1,836 SINARM 95 Source: Federal Police 2007 and 2008, Public Security Secretariats SP/RJ/DF/PA 2009, questionnaire answered by the Civil Police of CE 2009, data made available by the Civil Police of the MT during the visit of the Brazilian Disarmament Network Caravan, Table by: Instituto Sou da Paz. Some initiatives aimed at changing this scenario should be highlighted, such as that of the Federal District allowing the State Civil Police access to update SINARM data, feeding information on apprehended and stolen weapons directly into the system. In addition to the difficulty for State police forces in conveying data to SINARM, in almost all of the States, the transfer of records from the State police (of gun licenses registered before the Statute) to the Federal system still has not been completed. These weapons should be entered into SINARM in two ways: through the transfer of data from the Civil Police to the Federal Police and/or through the gun re-registration carried out by owners as required by the law. As can be seen in the examples presented, the data transfer to SINARM has not been completed, constituting the main factor preventing a more accurate estimate of the number of guns in circulation in the country. Examples of discrepancies between the weapons registered in the States prior to the Statute and in SINARM today: In the Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Federal Police estimates that 800 thousand guns were registered with the Civil Police before the Disarmament Statute and a little over 100 thousand of those licenses have been transferred to SINARM. 38 According to data from the Civil Police in the state of Espírito Santo, up until the end of 2003, before the Disarmament Statute entered into effect, there were 45,701 weapons registered in the State. 39 At the end of 2008, a mere 24% of those guns had been re-registered in SINARM

20 In the majority of States surveyed, the Civil Police confirmed having their own separate databases containing this information. It is fundamental that these databases be digitalized and that funding be approved to hire personnel to enter the data into SINARM. Unfortunately, as the law does not specifically require that the State police transfer this data to the Federal database, it will depend on the initiative of Civil and Federal police forces. The re-registration of firearms with state issued licenses, by their owners, according to the original law should have been concluded three years ago. However, a series of postponements (the most recent of which pushed the deadline to the end of 2009) has delayed the process and only been partially successful. The last amendment to the law defined that the re-registration process for weapons registered with a state authority would be done in the following manner: up to December 31, 2009, the psychological and shooting tests would not be necessary and no fees would be charged for the re-registration of the same firearm with the Federal Police. In this case, it would be sufficient to fill in the provisional registration on the Federal Police website, valid for 90 days. It is important to recognize the significant number of firearms re-registered in SINARM in 2008 and 2009 when there finally was a focused initiative by the federal government. The number of weapons re-registered in 2008 (over 400 thousand) was greater than the total number of guns re-registered in the four previous years (about 344 thousand). 41 According to the Ministry of Justice, approximately 2 million weapons were re-registered with the Federal Police between 2006 and In 2009, the State of São Paulo had the highest number of re- registrations (244 thousand weapons), followed by Rio Grande do Sul (171 thousand) and Minas Gerais (129 thousand). 42 Though a considerable step forward, the discrepancies that still exist between States and the Federal systems allow us to conclude that implementation of this measure is still incomplete. Lack of integration between databases It is truly a mystery how SIGMA (the military firearm database) operates, given the Army s resistance in sharing information, even with police agencies. However, it was possible to obtain from the competent authorities the information presented in item 2.2 Overview of firearms in Brazil, which had never before been released to civil society. According to the DFPC (Army department in charge of gun control), the total number of firearms presently in the hands of the Military Police and Firefighters and under the control of the Army (functional weapons) is 376,148. Of these, 339,096 are handguns (revolvers, pistols and automatic handguns) and the rest (37,052) are rifles and shotguns. Regarding the weapons owned privately, 231,335 belong to the Military Police officers, while those of the Military Firefighters are 6,063. Weapons in the hands of the Armed Forces have not been accounted for in SIGMA nor has this information been shared: so far the institutional SIGMA database, which should contain the weapons registered to the Armed Forces, has not been implemented. Presently these weapons appear in the registries of the institutions and corporations exclusively