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An audit carried out by the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) found a significant increase in the number of firearms in circulation in the country in the last two years, in addition to the unreliability of the data stored in the control systems. On Wednesday (30/11), the findings were released, during a plenary session of the court. The audit was carried out after the current government edited decrees that eased access to firearms and ammunition.
The Objective
The objective of the audit was precisely to verify whether there was an increase in new weapons registered, in addition to inspecting the control and traceability systems managed by the Federal Police and the Brazilian Army.
Increase in the Number of Firearms
The technical area of TCU found that, between January 2020 and December 2021, there was an increase of 33.28% in the number of weapons registered in Sinarm – a registration system controlled by the Federal Police – which is equivalent to 366,587 new weapons registered. In the Sigma system – controlled by the Army – the increase was 200.83% in the same period, that is, 188,288 new weapons registered. A total of 554,875 new legally acquired firearms went to the streets.
Loopholes and Flaws
Despite the growth in the number of firearms in circulation, the TCU auditors were unable to analyze possible impacts on public safety, because, according to the auditors, the data on apprehension of firearms stored at Sinarm and those collected by Senasp are not reliable. A few other problems were found:
- There are still no rules for sharing existing data in Sinarm and Sigma and for confronting data from the National Public Safety Information System
- There is no communication from the state public security secretariats about the apprehension of firearms and there is no record in Sinarm of property transfers, loss, and theft.
- The way in which the right to carry a weapon has been given to civilians allows the carrying of a firearm for 3 years and nationwide, which would be in disagreement with the Disarmament Statute
Debate Over the Flexibilization of the Right to Acquire a Weapon
The political opposition to the current Federal Government and some experts have argued against the laws that made it easier to have a weapon in Brazil. Those opposing the new gun laws mention various cases of gun traffickers using the system to legally buy the same firearms and ammunition they would bring from other countries to supply drug traffickers and other criminals. On top of that the products would arrive in the hands of the criminals for a fraction of the price of the weapons bought abroad.
Other risk that experts have highlighted are that of the gun violence between common people. Many have mentioned the case of attacks to schools and other public places by active shooters motivated by a personal issue, political differences, psychological problem and more. For instance, this year a few attacks to schools have been recorded.
On top of that the political scenario of growing political violence would be a great source of potential incidents. Recently, during the protests against the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the Army headquarters, in Brasília, a man by the name of Milton Baldin called CACs – hunters, shooters and collectors – to take part in the protests aimed at preventing Lula’s inauguration.
