On October 23rd, the law was approved
in a plenary vote in the House of Representatives, and must now return
to the Senate. We believe
it will receive final approval there sometime in November. If popular
pressure continues to trump the minority view of the pro-gun lobby,
they new law could be in force before the year’s end.
Part of our efforts now are to make sure that
the law won’t
get stuck in a filing cabinet somewhere, make sure that it remains
on the agenda and is voted before the upcoming holidays. We know
that the gun lobby would like to stall as long as possible, to give
themselves a chance to undermine the popular support that we have
been building over the years. President Lula will have the final
word, and he has been supportive of tighter gun legislation, and
of the Disarmament Statute.
IANSA: In relation to the current law, what are the main advantages
of the Disarmament Statute?
Bandeira: The existing law
had a lot of loopholes. For example, police could purchase up to
six guns at wholesale prices and did
not have to register them with the national authorities, just with
their own battalion. It was very easy for them to sell these guns
off illegally. The Disarmament Statute ends this unjustified privilege,
making police and security agents subject to much the same regulations
as the general population. The new law helps align Brazilian gun
legislation with other countries whose levels of armed violence are
substantially lower. For example, it makes it illegal for most civilians
to carry guns and typifies the crime of arms trafficking – the
first law to do so in South America; it also establishes control
over brokers and punishes their illegal activities, also for the
first time in the region. These measures were included in large part
because the NGO community in Brazil was well informed as to what
comprehensive changes would be needed in order to increase the effectiveness
of the law, and we helped our government representatives understand
these measures. We provided backgrounders and even drafted sample
text to be included.
We believe the main victory, however, lies in the popular referendum
to decide on a complete ban on all commercial gun sales to civilians.
Gun laws have been kicking around in Congress since 1996, while nearly
40,000 people are killed every year by gun violence in Brazil. The
population has spoken: Brazilians want tighter gun laws. The referendum
is one way to make sure that our will is heard, in spite of continuing
pressure on government by the gun lobby.
More on the specific measures contained in the
Disarmament Statute are available here
IANSA: There has been an impressive level of civil society activity
and networking around promoting this law. Can you provide some details
on this?
Bandeira: What we saw in Congress and in the media was a war of
information. On one hand, the lobby distributed data and information
in defense of the gun industry. And they had help: the NRA sent their
president to Rio to meet with Brazilian pro gun groups and help develop
a strategy against the Disarmament Statute. We also know that the
lobby here finances electoral campaigns of many members of Congress,
and we expect that they will do so in coming elections as well. But
on the other hand, NGOs who work to reduce armed violence also distributed
information. We used research carried out in Brazil as well as data
from other countries in the IANSA network. IANSA has been an important
channel for information exchange in our work. Experiences from other
countries in this field have been decisive in helping convince those
who believe that disarmament is a utopian impossibility.
We worked together to organize public demonstrations
throughout the country, sharing media contacts and providing information
and
advice to one another. Marches have been held in Rio, Recife, São
Paulo, Brasilia, Maceio, Aracaju, and Curitiba, and others are being
planned. By participating in each other’s activities, we helped
send the message that disarmament is a national concern with backing
throughout the country.
At the same time, we worked as a network to develop a document with
NGO suggestions to improve the text of the Disarmament Statute, as
well as a specialist sign-on letter in support of the new law. In
the end, we were able to use our information and our numbers to overcome
the money and influence of the gun lobby.
IANSA: It appears that the
Brazilian pro-gun lobby (called the “trigger
voting block”) was left considerably weakened by this flow
of information. Can you elaborate on the communications strategy
used by NGOs?
Bandeira: In general, parliamentarians are
not arms specialists, and so they need our information to define
their opinions and to
ground their positions and proposals in real data. In the debates
in Congress, information provided by gun control NGOs and the pro-gun
lobby was nearly always different, contradictory. This shows the
importance of this work. Our informational material was better documented
and more convincing; it revealed gun lobby’s data to be a house
of cards, easy to knock down because it had no strong foundation.
But our work was not a simple question of distributing information.
Our advocacy strategy included meeting with parliamentarians and
their assistants, noting their positions and working with them to
influence their opinions. We also did a lot of work with the media,
writing articles, participating in televised debates, and creating
events to make the issue “news”, like the marches that
have been held all over Brazil.
These demonstrations continue, as we need
to keep the pressure up on our government representatives to push
this legislation through.
Just before the vote in Congress, a national public opinion poll
showed that 74% of Brazilians are in favor of disarmament – we’ve
got to keep reminding our representatives that the great majority
of us want tighter gun laws. The first march, held in Rio, had the
support of more than 50,000 people who turned up despite heavy rains
that day. The importance of the media was evident here. TV Globo,
the most popular channel in Brazil, supported the movement, showing
characters discussing gun violence and the Disarmament Statute as
part of the script on the show. Even the march itself was woven into
the plot of the program. This helped push forward the national debate.
For more on the Gun Free Brazil marches, click
here
IANSA: What are the next steps for Brazilians NGOs? What will be
your action focus in the coming weeks and months?
Bandeira: First we need to
make sure that the law is voted quickly in the Senate and that
essential wording is restored to the text
of the law, such as the date for the national referendum, which had
to be removed in order for the law to pass in Congress. Once the
Disarmament Statute is approved and regulated, we will need to get
ready for an intense national public awareness campaign to prepare
for the referendum on banning gun sales to civilians. We are optimistic
about this, in spite of the power and resources of the gun lobby,
because the majority of the population supports disarmament. We know
that the new “globalised” pro-gun lobby will play tough,
and we will need more than ever the support of IANSA and others who
work against gun violence throughout the world.
IANSA: Can you comment on lessons learned our conclusions that would
serve to inform other activists involved in processes of changing
legislation?
Bandeira: It is fundamental to have good data and research, from
reliable sources, in order to convince parliamentarians and the media
of the need for tighter gun laws. It is essential that we understand
that we must work, and know how to work efficiently, with governments,
with different sectors of the government, with parliamentarians,
and so on, because we depend on their decisions and the public policies
they create. It is crucial to know how to mobilise the population
in the streets, to demonstrate popular will, since government representatives
depend on voters. It is strategic to influence and gain the respect
of the media, because it can influence the mentalities of millions
of people.
For more information:
Viva Rio
Sou da Paz
Desarme.org
Or write to Jessica Galeria: mercosur@iansa.org
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