The Amazon Records a Boom in The Number of Weapons from CACs

Arsenal for hunters, sport shooters and collectors (CACs) increased 744% between 2018 and 2022 in 7 of 9 states in the region

São Paulo

The number of firearms in the hands of civilians in the Legal Amazon exploded during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government. Between 2018 and 2022, the index registered in 7 of the 9 states in the region rose 743.7%: from 6,693 to 56,473 weapons. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, the arsenal of CACs (hunters, sport shooters and collectors) in the region almost doubled, increasing by 96%.

The data are from the Army and were obtained by the Sou da Paz ( I am for peace) Institute and the Igarapé Institute through the Access to Information Law.

The information was presented split by military regions. Therefore, this total only takes into account the collection of the CACs in Pará, Amapá and Maranhão, which make up the 8th military region, and Amazonas, Acre, Roraima and Rondônia, which make up the 12th. Mato Grosso and Tocantins are also part of the Legal Amazon, but data from these states are allocated into other military regions (9th and 11th) and, as they are mixed with other places, it is not possible to extract them individually from the survey.

In all of Brazil, the growth rate in the last four years is also alarming, but it is well below the one registered in the Amazon region: it went from almost 351 thousand to 1.2 million, an increase of 259%. Considering the entire arsenal in the hands of civilians (including, for example, ordinary citizens who hold permits for self-defense and civil servants who have weapons for personal use), the number reaches almost 3 million weapons in the country.

Translated by Cassy Dias

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