Public Radio International (PRI) writes that Brazil, suffering from a horrific wave of gun homicide, should leave citizens even more helpless to defend themselves.
According to a PRI report, 40,000 Brazilians are murdered with firearms annually (nearly four times the number in the U.S., in a country with less than two-thirds the population). Coincidentally, Brazil has a strict gun control regime, which requires all guns to be registered, restricts the number of guns citizens can own, and severely limits carry outside the home.
PRI’s response to current efforts to better allow law-abiding Brazilians to defend themselves? “The answer is not to arm more citizens indiscriminately. This is the height of irresponsibility and will make Brazilians more, not less, insecure. To the contrary, Brazil needs to limit the number of firearms in circulation to avoid preventable death and injury.” Isn’t Brazil already doing that?
PRI cites Brazil’s booming firearms industry as a problem, ignoring that skyrocketing gun sales in the U.S. have coincided with a drop in the gun homicide rate. PRI should interview Brazilians who fear for their lives, left helpless by draconian policies of a government that distrusts them.
