A 45-year-old man killed his father, brother, and a military police officer, in addition to injuring nine other people in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul. It took almost nine hours of siege before the Military Police were able to enter Edson Fernando Crippa’s house. He was killed during the confrontation with the police.
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The Crime
The shootings began on Tuesday night (22/10), after a family fight. The Military Police agents went to the scene after being called by the shooter’s father. In the call, he stated that he was being mistreated by his son. A team was responding when the shots started. Edson’s father, Eugênio Crippa, 74, his brother Everton Crippa, 49, and soldier Everton Kirsch Júnior, 31, were shot dead. Six other police officers were injured. The others injured were the shooter’s mother and sister-in-law and a municipal guard.
Access to Weapons
Despite having schizophrenia and having been admitted to psychiatric institutions at least four times, the shooter was registered as a collector, sports shooter, or hunter (CAC) and had four weapons in his name: a 9 mm pistol, a .380 pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a rifle.
Technical Conditions
After the crime, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Lewandowski, stated that he intends to carry out a rigorous screening of CAC licenses starting in January 2025. The date coincides with the period in which the responsibility for granting, controlling, and supervising CACs will no longer be the responsibility of the Brazilian Army and will be transferred to the Federal Police (PF). The screening will aim to determine whether the person has the technical conditions to carry a weapon.
Bolsonaro Administration
During the four years he was president, Bolsonaro issued decrees to facilitate Brazilians’ access to weapons, including large-caliber and restricted-use weapons, such as rifles. There was also an increase in the limit of ammunition available annually for CACs.
Lula Government
Soon after taking office, President Lula (PT) revoked the regulations on weapons and defined new rules, including the suspension of new concessions for CACs to register new weapons. Among the immediate measures provided for in the decree are: reduction of the limits for the purchase of weapons and ammunition for permitted use; suspension of new registrations of shooting clubs and schools; suspension of the granting of new registrations for CACs; creation of a working group to propose new regulations for the Disarmament Statute of 2003.
Analysis:
The increased access to weapons in Brazil substantially increases the risk of episodes of serious violence, such as the recent case in Novo Hamburgo. This incident exposes the consequences of an unbridled relaxation of gun control, a policy that, although promoted as a right to self-defense, often has the opposite effect, increasing family tragedies and homicides. In addition, the increased circulation of weapons increases the risk that these weapons, initially acquired by civilians, end up in the hands of criminal factions, intensifying public insecurity.
The relaxation policies adopted during the Bolsonaro government contributed to a significant increase in the number of weapons in circulation, including restricted-use and high-caliber weapons. This increase facilitates not only access by citizens but also the proliferation of weapons in trafficking networks and among criminal groups, which often obtain weapons through robberies, diversion, or even indirect purchases from civilians. Thus, the uncontrolled growth in the number of weapons in the country transforms the clandestine market, making it even more stocked and accessible to criminals.
Sources: A Folha de SP; G1.
