On 23 October 2005, Brazil held a country-wide referendum on article 35 of the Disarmament Statute to determine whether to approve or disapprove the article, which states in full, "The sale of firearms and ammunition is prohibited in the entire national territory, except to those entities provided in article 6 of this Law." ("Art. 35. É proibida a comercialização de arma de fogo e munição em todo o território nacional, salvo para as entidades previstas no art. 6o desta Lei."[1]) The referendum failed by nearly ⅔ and that part of the statute was not enacted.
2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum
23 October 2005 (2005-10-23)
Should the commerce of firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?
Outcome
Brazil approves the commerce of firearms and ammunition. However, President Lula maintains the prohibition.
The referendum and its date had been provided by the Disarmament Statute itself (art. 35, §1o).[1] During the drafting and development of the law, it had been decided that article 35 should be submitted to a referendum because of the importance of its subject. On 7 July 2005, the Federal Senate of Brazil promulgated legislative decree 780, which authorized the referendum. Article 2 of its decree stipulated that the public consultation should employ the following question: "Should commerce in firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?" ("O comércio de armas de fogo e munição deve ser proibido no Brasil?"[2])
Voting was compulsory for people between the ages of 18 and 70. The belief of a fundamental natural human right to self-defense, low efficacy of police, high levels of use of illegal weapons in crimes in contrast to a very rare usage of legal weapons, are some of the factors that may have influenced 65% of Brazilian people to vote against the ban proposal. The gun ban proposal received broad support in the press, while celebrities were generally in favor of it, only Brazil's anti-ban social groups and right-wing press, most importantly Veja the Brazilian news magazine (indeed weekly publication of any kind) with the largest paid circulation in the country. Other media, like the powerful Globo group (owners of Brazil's largest TV network Rede Globo) and newspapers of record like Folha de S.Paulo advocated clearly pro gun ban. The then President Lula was a self-declared pro gun ban power.[3]
According to the Brazilian constitution, every citizen has the right to self-defense and the pro-gun campaigners focused their arguments on this constitutional right, as well as making economic arguments.[citation needed]
A decisive argument made by the pro-gun campaigners was to question the morality of the government removing a right from its citizens, resulting in a strong feeling among voters that no rights should ever be allowed to be taken away by the government.[4] Also, there were debates about the significant cultural status of gun ownership in the southern states of the country.
Another major argument used by the pro-gun ownership campaigners was the fact that the absolute majority of the gun crimes in Brazil were committed with unregistered and illegal guns, specially high caliber guns, that were already forbidden in Brazil and due to that, it would be of no use to forbid law-abiding citizens to own legal registered guns in accordance to the law. This argument was strongly reinforced by the fact that the regions where gun ownership is widespread were the ones with the smallest number of gun-related deaths. In the South region where there is the highest number of legal guns per citizen only 59% of all murders were caused by firearms in contrast to 70% in the Northeast where there is the lowest number of legal firearms per citizen.[5]
The anti-gun proponents argued that guns are dangerous for society and that their only reason to exist is to harm others.
The anti-gun campaign received widespread support from several famous actors, musicians and other Brazilian celebrities and a noticeable support from the nation's main TV station, Rede Globo.
The ban had the backing of the federal government and sections of the Brazilian Roman Catholic Church.[6] The anti-gun lobby received vast support and free coverage from the press, including Rede Globo, Brazil's largest TV network despite its parent company fairly neutral stance which eventually was reflected. By that time most Protestant-evangelical news organizations had taken a clearly anti-ban stance (including the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus-owned Rede Record, Globo's main competitor at the time).
International supportEdit
The IANSA member groups Instituto Sou da Paz and Viva Rio[7] campaigned for a complete ban on civilian gun sales in Brazil, in support of the referendum.[8] A week before the vote, IANSA, an international gun control organization coordinated an international day of support for the Brazilian ban, with demonstrations taking place in Britain, Italy, South Africa, and other countries. IANSA urged support of the ban to "reinforce the movement in favor of gun control in other Latin American countries riddled with armed violence, and back the efforts to control private gun ownership at [an] international level."[6]
ResultsEdit
Although the federal government, the Catholic Church, and the United Nations argued in favor of the proposal,[9] the result was a victory for those against the ban, with over 63% of the voters opposed.[10]
^ ab"LEI No 10.826, DE 22 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2003". Retrieved 6 October 2011.
^"Decreto Legislativo no 780, de 2005". Retrieved 6 October 2011.
^"Lula defende o Estatuto do Desarmamento". Instituto Lula (in Portuguese). 16 December 2014. from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^Lage, Janaina (25 October 2005). "População não quis abrir mão de direito no referendo, diz Palocci". www1.folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). from the original on 18 December 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
^Urbim, Emiliano (2008). "Mapa da morte", Superinteressante, Nº 262, Pp 30 and 31.
^ abMorton, David (5 July 2006). . Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
^ . IANSA. 18 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2003.
^(PDF). IANSA. 5 August 2005. Archived from the original (pdf) on 14 April 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
^Brazilians reject gun sales ban BBC News, 24 October 2005
^Associated Press (October 23, 2005). . Fox News. Archived from the original on August 7, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
2005, brazilian, firearms, ammunition, referendum, october, 2005, brazil, held, country, wide, referendum, article, disarmament, statute, determine, whether, approve, disapprove, article, which, states, full, sale, firearms, ammunition, prohibited, entire, nat. On 23 October 2005 Brazil held a country wide referendum on article 35 of the Disarmament Statute to determine whether to approve or disapprove the article which states in full The sale of firearms and ammunition is prohibited in the entire national territory except to those entities provided in article 6 of this Law Art 35 E proibida a comercializacao de arma de fogo e municao em todo o territorio nacional salvo para as entidades previstas no art 6o desta Lei 1 The referendum failed by nearly and that part of the statute was not enacted 2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum23 October 2005 2005 10 23 Should the commerce of firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil OutcomeBrazil approves the commerce of firearms and ammunition However President Lula maintains the prohibition ResultsChoice Votes Yes 33 333 045 36 06 No 59 109 265 63 94 Valid votes 92 442 310 96 92 Invalid or blank votes 2 933 514 3 08 Total votes 95 375 824 100 00 Registered voters turnout 122 042 615 78 15 Results by stateNo 50 59 60 69 70 79 80 89 The referendum and its date had been provided by the Disarmament Statute itself art 35 1o 1 During the drafting and development of the law it had been decided that article 35 should be submitted to a referendum because of the importance of its subject On 7 July 2005 the Federal Senate of Brazil promulgated legislative decree 780 which authorized the referendum Article 2 of its decree stipulated that the public consultation should employ the following question Should commerce in firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil O comercio de armas de fogo e municao deve ser proibido no Brasil 2 Contents 1 Background 1 1 International support 2 Results 2 1 By region 2 2 By state 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksBackground EditVoting was compulsory for people between the ages of 18 and 70 The belief of a fundamental natural human right to self defense low efficacy of police high levels of use of illegal weapons in crimes in contrast to a very rare usage of legal weapons are some of the factors that may have influenced 65 of Brazilian people to vote against the ban proposal The gun ban proposal received broad support in the press while celebrities were generally in favor of it only Brazil s anti ban social groups and right wing press most importantly Veja the Brazilian news magazine indeed weekly publication of any kind with the largest paid circulation in the country Other media like the powerful Globo group owners of Brazil s largest TV network Rede Globo and newspapers of record like Folha de S Paulo advocated clearly pro gun ban The then President Lula was a self declared pro gun ban power 3 According to the Brazilian constitution every citizen has the right to self defense and the pro gun campaigners focused their arguments on this constitutional right as well as making economic arguments citation needed A decisive argument made by the pro gun campaigners was to question the morality of the government removing a right from its citizens resulting in a strong feeling among voters that no rights should ever be allowed to be taken away by the government 4 Also there were debates about the significant cultural status of gun ownership in the southern states of the country Another major argument used by the pro gun ownership campaigners was the fact that the absolute majority of the gun crimes in Brazil were committed with unregistered and illegal guns specially high caliber guns that were already forbidden in Brazil and due to that it would be of no use to forbid law abiding citizens to own legal registered guns in accordance to the law This argument was strongly reinforced by the fact that the regions where gun ownership is widespread were the ones with the smallest number of gun related deaths In the South region where there is the highest number of legal guns per citizen only 59 of all murders were caused by firearms in contrast to 70 in the Northeast where there is the lowest number of legal firearms per citizen 5 The anti gun proponents argued that guns are dangerous for society and that their only reason to exist is to harm others The anti gun campaign received widespread support from several famous actors musicians and other Brazilian celebrities and a noticeable support from the nation s main TV station Rede Globo The ban had the backing of the federal government and sections of the Brazilian Roman Catholic Church 6 The anti gun lobby received vast support and free coverage from the press including Rede Globo Brazil s largest TV network despite its parent company fairly neutral stance which eventually was reflected By that time most Protestant evangelical news organizations had taken a clearly anti ban stance including the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus owned Rede Record Globo s main competitor at the time International support Edit The IANSA member groups Instituto Sou da Paz and Viva Rio 7 campaigned for a complete ban on civilian gun sales in Brazil in support of the referendum 8 A week before the vote IANSA an international gun control organization coordinated an international day of support for the Brazilian ban with demonstrations taking place in Britain Italy South Africa and other countries IANSA urged support of the ban to reinforce the movement in favor of gun control in other Latin American countries riddled with armed violence and back the efforts to control private gun ownership at an international level 6 Results EditAlthough the federal government the Catholic Church and the United Nations argued in favor of the proposal 9 the result was a victory for those against the ban with over 63 of the voters opposed 10 ChoiceVotes For33 333 04536 06Against59 109 26563 94Total92 442 310100 00Valid votes92 442 31096 92Invalid votes1 604 3071 68Blank votes1 329 2071 39Total votes95 375 824100 00Registered voters turnout122 042 61578 15Source Superior Electoral CourtBy region Edit Region Registered Turnout Votes Yes No Yes NoMidwest 8 545 003 75 38 1 971 506 4 308 155 31 40 68 60 North 8 418 948 72 10 1 718 131 4 232 295 28 87 71 13 Northeast 32 991 409 74 78 10 147 793 13 735 686 42 49 57 51 South 18 564 114 81 78 3 028 661 11 812 085 20 41 79 59 Southeast 53 523 141 80 36 16 466 954 25 021 044 39 69 60 31 By state Edit State Registered Turnout Votes Yes No Yes NoAcre 389 137 69 49 43 025 221 828 16 24 83 76 Alagoas 1 774 914 73 05 568 083 690 448 45 14 54 86 Amazonas 1 688 287 73 16 374 090 839 007 30 84 69 16 Amapa 332 589 75 61 65 593 181 764 26 52 73 48 Bahia 8 952 123 72 07 2 770 718 3 448 907 44 55 55 45 Ceara 5 144 516 76 53 1 730 922 2 090 103 45 30 54 70 Espirito Santo 2 253 444 77 19 736 510 982 056 43 62 56 38 Federal District 1 564 500 77 19 528 169 695 328 43 17 56 83 Goias 3 620 968 74 39 839 508 1 776 072 32 10 67 90 Maranhao 3 735 131 70 72 995 849 1 565 845 38 87 61 13 Minas Gerais 13 320 622 78 28 3 889 398 6 155 748 38 72 61 28 Mato Grosso 1 854 477 72 78 305 457 1 016 288 23 11 76 89 Mato Grosso do Sul 1 505 058 72 78 298 372 820 467 26 67 73 33 Para 3 999 863 72 04 928 006 1 894 619 32 88 67 12 Paraiba 2 468 633 78 34 690 751 1 183 463 36 866 63 14 Parana 6 948 437 80 45 1 463 776 3 988 689 26 85 73 15 Pernambuco 5 656 670 76 85 1 918 048 2 296 510 45 51 54 49 Piaui 1 990 993 76 65 545 828 928 883 37 09 62 91 Rio de Janeiro 10 645 180 81 17 3 155 897 5 124 572 38 11 61 89 Rio Grande do Norte 1 558 081 76 99 575 783 938 514 38 02 61 98 Rio Grande do Sul 7 593 504 82 88 812 207 5 353 854 13 17 86 83 Rondonia 954 308 70 83 144 117 519 425 21 72 78 28 Roraima 216 022 73 49 23 453 132 928 15 00 85 00 Santa Catarina 4 022 170 82 01 752 678 2 469 542 23 36 76 64 Sao Paulo 27 303 895 81 32 8 685 149 12 788 668 40 45 59 55 Sergipe 1 245 913 78 68 351 811 596 013 37 12 62 88 Tocantins 838 742 71 15 139 847 442 724 24 01 75 99 See also EditGun politics Gun politics in BrazilReferences Edit a b LEI No 10 826 DE 22 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2003 Retrieved 6 October 2011 Decreto Legislativo no 780 de 2005 Retrieved 6 October 2011 Lula defende o Estatuto do Desarmamento Instituto Lula in Portuguese 16 December 2014 Archived from the original on 24 February 2015 Retrieved 2 September 2021 Lage Janaina 25 October 2005 Populacao nao quis abrir mao de direito no referendo diz Palocci www1 folha uol com br in Portuguese Archived from the original on 18 December 2005 Retrieved 14 July 2021 Urbim Emiliano 2008 Mapa da morte Superinteressante Nº 262 Pp 30 and 31 a b Morton David 5 July 2006 Gunning For the World Foreign Policy Archived from the original on 30 April 2011 Retrieved 23 July 2008 IANSA Members South America IANSA 18 June 2008 Archived from the original on 2 November 2003 The Campaign for the Brazilian Referendum Starts Today PDF IANSA 5 August 2005 Archived from the original pdf on 14 April 2008 Retrieved 18 September 2016 Brazilians reject gun sales ban BBC News 24 October 2005 Associated Press October 23 2005 Brazilians Block Gun Ban Fox News Archived from the original on August 7 2008 Retrieved June 18 2008 External links EditInformation in Portuguese Resultado Oficial Archived 2005 11 28 at the Wayback Machine Instrucoes e Resolucoes do TSE Tire suas duvidas sobre o Estatuto do Desarmamento Referendo Sobre o Desarmamento Archived 9 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine Comunicacao do Senado permanent dead link Pesquisa do Datafolha Lei que regulamenta a execucao dos meios de soberania popular previstos no artigo 14 da Constituicao FederalOpinions against the referendum in Portuguese PSTU Vote Nao Pelo direito a autodefesa dos trabalhadores Referendo da Fumaca Revista Veja 05 10 05 Portal Nosso Sao Paulo Diga nao a Mentira e a Hipocrisia A Farsa do Desarmamento ChargesOpinions in support of the referendum in Portuguese Especial Trip Desarmamento Pelo sim ao desarmamento Comissao de Direitos Humanos e Minorias da Camara dos Deputados CDHM Sim ao desarmamento Archived 9 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine Site Desarme Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum amp oldid 1162997819, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
