Firearm registration in 2023 fell 82% compared to the previous year

The registration of new firearms for personal defense of citizens living in Brazil fell in 2023. The reduction was almost 82% compared to the previous year. According to data from the National Weapons System (Sinarm), last year 20,822 new firearms were registered for personal defense, a number well below the 111,044 weapons that were registered in 2022.

According to the Federal Police (PF), this is the lowest number of registered firearms for personal defense since 2004. That year, 4,094 records were recorded by the agency.

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Pistols lead the list of weapons registered by civilians with the PF, with 14,277 registrations made in 2023. Next come shotguns (2,309 registrations) and rifles (2,215).

In a post published this Wednesday (3) on his social networks, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, spoke about this drop in civilian firearms registrations and also about the decrease in the number of intentional lethal violent crimes. For him, this is a “very relevant” combination for the country.

“This scientifically proves that it is not the irresponsible proliferation of weapons that combats crime. And yes, equipped police, technically prepared, with adequate planning. Without forgetting, of course, the main thing for new and sustainable achievements: social justice policies, such as full-time schools,” he wrote.

More restrictive policy

The drop in the registration of new firearms by civilians occurs after the federal government adopted measures to try to disarm the population and reduce violence in the country. In July 2023, the President of the Republic Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree that reduces the number of weapons and ammunition held by civilians.

Also published was a decree that increased the rates of Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI) which affect firearms, ammunition and similar devices.

In an interview with Brazil Agency, the project manager at Instituto Sou da Paz, Natália Pollachi, said that this reduction in the registration of weapons by civilians is mainly explained by the more restrictive policy, but that this is not the only factor that must be taken into consideration. “Certainly the most influential thing was the change in regulations that we had last year,” she said.

“The previous federal government [Jair Bolsonaro] issued a series of decrees and ordinances greatly facilitating access to firearms. And then, in 2023, on January 1st, we had a new decree from President Lula suspending new registrations for CACs [Colecionadores, Atiradores Desportivos e Caçadores]”, stated Pollachi, also remembering the current government's signal that there would also be changes in the number of weapons and calibers allowed. These changes occurred throughout the year.

“It is quite understandable that, even if people were interested in purchasing weapons, many of them chose to wait to see what the new standard would be and what calibers of restricted use would be, so that they would not have to go through the process and then have have to redo it or have your request denied,” he added.

For the project manager at Instituto Sou da Paz, the drop in registrations and the policy of greater restrictions on weapons are positive for the country. But she emphasizes that, although the new regulations are satisfactory, there is still a need to improve supervision for people who already have firearms.

“One of the federal government's decrees provided for the transfer of part of the Army's inspection powers to the Federal Police. This is a very delicate process, because we are talking about the transfer of a database, an entire process of expertise, which demands that the Federal Police receive proportional investments so that it can commit to this function”.

Another issue that needs to be resolved, he highlighted, is the publication and implementation of a program to buy back weapons that are in the possession of civilians. “The government [deveria] open a buyback program with attractive values ​​for people who want to get rid of these weapons – and who perhaps bought them on impulse or in very large quantities that today no longer make sense. We have a voluntary delivery campaign, which persists in the country today, but the amounts it pays are quite outdated.”