On the brink of September 7, Justice of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Edson Fachin determined restrictions on the number of weapons and ammunition that can be obtained by CACs (hunters, shooters, and collectors), under the argument of increasing the risk of political violence during the electoral campaign. Fachin granted the requests in an injunction (provisional and urgent) in three actions, two by the PSB and one by the PT, against excerpts from decrees and ordinances of the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) that made this possibility more flexible. He is the rapporteur of these lawsuits.
Fachin's monocratic decision is yet another one with the potential to heat up the relationship between the Judiciary and the government of President Jair Bolsonaro. It comes days after Justice Alexandre de Moraes determined controversial action against Bolsonarist businessmen who were part of a WhatsApp group in which a coup d'état was being promoted.
This weekend, Bolsonaro referred to Moraes as a "slob" during a speech. Without mentioning the name of the Justice, who is also president of the TSE (Supreme Electoral Court), he classified as such those who "impose power" after catching wind of the contents of a conversation heard "behind the bush", a reference to the leak of the dialogues from the group of entrepreneurs.
In his decision this Monday, Fachin also established a thesis that the possession of weapons can only be authorized to people who demonstrate an "effective need" for the use of such equipment, as it was before the Bolsonaro government.
Translated by Cassy Dias