The Brazilian Pro Gun Activists Inspired by the NRA | Arming the Americas

the pool on January 8th thousands of supporters of former president Dairy bolsonaro of storm Brazil's Congress Supreme Court and presidential Palace and seems strikingly similar to the invasion of the U.S Capitol they left a trail of Destruction [Music] [Music] for months leading up to this moment we followed one group of Die Hard bolsonaro supporters pro-gun activists they've emerged as a powerful political force and they're determined to bring America's love of guns to Brazil [Music] thank you [Music] is a social media star his post of wild boar Hunts on Instagram have attracted tens of thousands of followers who know him as samurai casadore or Samurai Hunter [Music] wow that was an experience is it nice what are you feeling I don't know if I would call it nice were you happy um I'm happy for you thank you guns are more than just a hobby for cassador he wants gun rights to be enshrined in Brazilian law just like they are in the U.S when we met Cazador he was among a slate of pro-gun candidates running in the October elections foreign [Music] there is no right to bear arms and Brazil's Constitution but former president jair bolsonaro made gun access Central to his 2018 campaign after taking office in 2019 he signed over 40 executive orders rolling back Brazil's strict Firearms regulations [Music] [Applause] under his watch the number of registered gun owners grew six-fold [Music] I'm in southern Brazil one of Latin America's biggest gun conventions there's a lot of people here of these from all over the world including the American companies and it's just Samurai casadore is also here as a featured speaker projects how does the event this year compared to last year's event is Brazilians still only have around 4 million Firearms compared to the US's 393 million but the recent spike in gun owners here means the potential Market is huge and it's being driven by people like George Washington de Olivera tosa he's a licensed collector and in the last few years he spent more than thirty thousand dollars building an arsenal we found a mine a us-made semi-automatic rifle how many guns do you have I hope when did you start buying all these new guns you purchased 20 th October of last before bolsonaro could you own this gun no you couldn't no no [Music] um if this argument sounds familiar that's because it's straight from the NRA Playbook featured again and again in NRA ads that's right we're the good guys with guns they talk about the only truly free people who have ever walked this Earth have been armed people I'm the National Rifle Association of America and I'm Freedom's safest place the NRA has a history in Brazil before 2005 the gun movement here was all but dead Luis anacio Lula de Silva was President then and he backed a referendum asking voters to ban gun sales to civilians all together the NRA took notice so it helped Brazil's gun lobbies strategize and fight back [Music] voters were flooded with television and radio ads about personal freedom just like in the US [Music] the campaign worked voters overwhelmingly rejected the ban the idea that civilians ought to have a right to an arm that is a purely imported argument Robert mugga has been studying Arms Control in Brazil for a decade is there a U.S influence in Brazil's gun culture 100 Brazilian gun culture to some extent has been invented and imported by U.S gun Advocates the NRA came to Brazil to support the pro arms campaign bringing a discourse that has never been seen before in Brazil why does the NRA care about Brazil and why would the NRA care about Brazil make no mistake the NRA understands the importance of international rules that could affect domestic interests at home this is not just about access to Firearms so this is about building political constituencies I think what the bolsonaro family understand is that this is a voting block this is a constituency they can tap for future elections and they've been doing that very successfully [Music] [Music] [Music] under bolsonaro Brazil's pro-gun movement turned into a political Powerhouse and it's led by Pro armas a Lobby group founded in 2020 that's modeled after the NRA they organized this campaign rally back in July with bolsonaro's son Eduardo as a keynote speaker [Music] has the NRA the National Rifle Association contributed talk about their own campaign s United States this idea that more guns equals less crime became a rallying cry for the pro-gun movement homicide rates did fall by some 30 percent since 2017. a statistic bolsonaro said was proof that guns make people safer but the reasons why are disputed many criminologists attribute it to a temporary truce between gangs among other factors and other kinds of crimes like violent bank robberies are on the rise especially in the state of Sao Paulo wow this is just a closet full of of guns Chi Pedro Evo Correa Santos says all these guns were seized during Bank attacks what kind of gun is this is a US rifle AR-15 Argentina Belgium Belgium guns have long circulated illegally in Brazil trafficked in from other countries what changed under bolsonaro is that gangs could act as high-powered weapons through license buyers on the legal Market it was legal gun in the past so it's probably sold to a hunter or a sports shooter yes do you worry that guns are legally in Brazil will end up in the hands of criminals yes because you know more girls on the streets be more guns on criminal hands is there a reason that in the end event I don't know why these girls are criminal guns I don't know why someone want to buy a gun like this legal guns are already spilling into the illegal Market in dozens of cases police have accused licensed gun owners of arming Brazil's most notorious gangs Brazil is already the homicide capital of the world by introducing this new equipment into the markets both the legal and then into the illegal markets we created a problem for Brazil that's going to last Generations does the pro-gun movement end with bolsonaro I think Pandora's Box has been opened and I don't see this going back with or without bolsonaro we're going to be seeing the pro-arms movement continuing in its influence far after he's gone Boston Road lost the election by hair less than two percent of the vote Samurai cassador also lost he joined thousands of other bolsonaro loyalists in protest calling for a military intervention on December 24th Souza the gun collector we interviewed at the convention was arrested for attempting to set off a bomb in Brasilia during his arrest police seized a thousand rounds and eight Firearms including the one he showed us [Applause] a week later Lula took office and immediately revoked some of bolsonaro's gun decrees [Music] the postnaro's party and right-wing Allies won control of Congress expanding what's been dubbed the bullet caucus program lawmakers promised to pick up where bolsonaro left off and ensure his U.S inspired gun Legacy lives on because [Music] I'm Michael larmont editor-in-chief of Vice news too often traditional news outlets shy away from the real stories and experiences of those living through Global conflicts not Vice news our reporters are on the ground fearlessly covering the human stories that shape our world you and millions of others can continue to read watch and listen to Vice news for free but we hope you'll consider making a one-time or ongoing contribution of any size advice.com contribute every contribution no matter how big or small helps support the journalism Vice news brings to you every day thank you

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Length: 13min 55sec (835 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 12 2023