More guns, fewer control mechanisms: Brazilian journalist analyzes Bolsonaro's gun policy
To Cecilia Olliveira, the problem is not one to be solved with elections or in one government
Written by
Fernanda Canofre
Posted 23 October 2022 11:03 GMT
In 2016, journalist Cecília Olliveira was searching for data on shootings that took place in Rio de Janeiro for a story, but found a lack of registers instead. The solution was to do the count on her own, by hand, cross-referencing research in social media, police reports, and the press.
This is how Instituto Fogo Cruzado (Crossfire, in Portuguese), where she is the executive director, was created. The institute uses technology to build its open-sourced data on gun violence, available to all, also helping to preserve lives by informing people of what is going on in their regions. So far, its database covers almost 50 cities from three metropolitan areas in Brazil — Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Salvador.
An estimated 1 million guns are in the hands of civilians as of 2022, licensed hunters, shooters, and collectors, known as CACs. This has almost tripled since the end of 2018, when President Jair Bolsonaro was elected.
The number was publicized by the Army after being obtained by institutes Sou da Paz and Igarapé through the Access to Information Law (LAI). Only in the Amazon region, the number of licenses for civilians increased by 700 percent. The total national number now surpasses the guns in the hands of the armed forces.
More:
https://globalvoices.org/2022/10/23/more-guns-fewer-control-mechanisms-brazilian-journalist-analyzes-bolsonaros-gun-policy/
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