Latin America’s largest nation debates whether more guns could make society safer.
By Marina Lopes and Marina Lopes Email Bio Follow Anthony Faiola Anthony Faiola Correspondent covering Latin America, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, human rights, poverty, globalization and economics Email Bio Follow March 25 at 6:00 AM RIO DE JANEIRO — The hooded gunmen worked their way through the hallways with a .38-caliber handgun and a machete, shooting at students from point-blank range and hacking at those who tried to get away.
The bloodbath on March 13, one of the worst mass shootings in Brazil’s history, comes as new President Jair Bolsonaro begins to loosen restrictions on gun ownership. Janaina Mattos Alves, 36, who is seven months pregnant, lost a son last year. Her son, Jhonata, 16, died when a Rio de Janeiro police officer shot him in the face while he was on his way to a party store to pick up supplies for his younger brother's birthday. Another senator from Bolsonaro’s party said that if teachers had been armed, the attack could have been stopped.
The 2003 law requires citizens who wanted to purchase a gun to prove that they needed it — and to get the police to agree. Laudine Roque takes an arms class in order to get her license to carry a gun at Clube de Tiro Colt 45 shooting range in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic Golf Course in the affluent Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro is set to open a state-of-the-art gun range this year to cater to anxious millionaires.“We are businessmen, and this is a good opportunity,” he said.
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