Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), suspended on Wednesday (15/02) all proceedings at lower courts that discuss the legality of the new arms decree issued by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) – which imposed greater control over the population’s access to weapons. In the decision, the minister stated that the purpose of the measure is to “stop” a “trend of vertiginous relaxation of the norms for access to firearms and ammunition in Brazil while discussing new regulations on the matter”.
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As soon as he assumed the presidency, Lula edited a decree that revoked a series of rules of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government that facilitated and expanded access to weapons. According to Gilmar Mendes, the suspension of proceedings at lower courts still sought to avoid conflicting decisions in the Court itself on the subject.
Legality of the new rules
Gilmar Mendes is the rapporteur of an action filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) that asked the Supreme Court to recognize the legality of the new rules. For the minister, there is no unconstitutionality in the new rules on access to weapons in the country. When listing decrees of the Bolsonaro government, the rapporteur pointed out that, in recent years, there has been a “clear unconstitutional action towards facilitating access to weapons and ammunition in the country” especially for hunters, shooters and collectors (CACs).
Re-registration of weapons
The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, said on Thursday (16/02) that so far 68,488 weapons belonging to the so-called CACs (hunters, shooters and collectors) have been re-registered. He added that anyone who does not re-register by the end of the period will incur a crime. In early February, the government gave 60 days for owners of weapons for permitted or restricted use to register these weapons in the National Weapons System (Sinarm), managed by the Federal Police.
