President Jair Bolsonaro’s decree relaxing the rules for carrying firearms will allow 19 million new people to potentially carry firearms.
The number, calculated by the Sou da Paz Institute, takes into consideration all the people included in the decree that was published in the government’s publication on Wednesday (8).
Politicians, prison officers, police reporters, guardianship counselors, employees of private security and securities transport companies, freelance truck drivers and residents of rural areas will benefit from the relaxed rules.
To arrive at 19 million, the institute analyzed public data existing in four categories: those who live in rural areas and are older than 25, independent truck drivers, guardianship counselors, and public defenders. The largest group that will benefit are those who live in rural areas and are older than 25 with 18.6 million people. There are 492 thousand independent truck drivers, 30 thousand guardianship counselors, and 8,400 public defenders.
The institute reiterated that the number of people who can potentially carry arms could be higher because there isn’t data available for the rest of the categories. The executive order allows 20 groups of professions to bear arms.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon