President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree this Tuesday (7) that relaxes the transport rules of firearms for collectors, sports shooters and hunters.
The possession of guns for sports shooters was already relaxed in March 2017, when an Army ordinance allowed these people to transport one of their arms between their storage place and the place of training or competition and vice versa.
Another change in the decree will increase the possibility of importing firearms, which was restricted before.
"We pushed the law to the limit, we did not invent anything and we did break the law. The law just expanded the limit," Bolsonaro said.
In all other situations, weapons must be transported separately from the ammunition so that it can not be readily used on the street to fire.
In signing the decree, Bolsonaro said that "no one is authorizing hunting in Brazil before they take it to say," he said, adding that hunting in the country is only authorized by law.
The president also criticized previous efforts to encourage disarmament, arguing that this policy did not contribute to improvements in the country's public security. According to him, the decree itself is not a policy aimed at public safety.
"I've always said that public safety starts in the house," he said.
The relaxation in the rules of firearms possession is an old stomping ground of Bolsonaro, who was elected with strong support of the bullet counter.
After assuming the Presidency of the Republic, one of his first acts as president was issuing a decree to facilitate the possession of firearms, a campaign promise.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon