Brazil
The small arms industry has always been an active part of Brazil’s military-industrial complex. Being a second-largest producer of small arms in the western hemisphere, Brazil has a huge number of guns that are responsible for very high levels of armed violence. In 2017, illicit holdings accounted for more than a half of 17 million firearms that were in Brazilians hands. A registration of small arms became systematically regulated at the national level in 1997.[1]
In 2022, the estimated total number of guns held by civilians dropped to 4 million. The Firearms Act of 2003 constitutes the guiding gun control legislation of the country. Brazil has signed and ratified the Arms Trade Treaty and the UN Firearms Protocol.[2]
[1] Dreyfus, Pablo, Benjamin Lessing, Marcelo de Sousa Nascimento and Júlio Cesar Purcena (2010): Small Arms in Brazil: Production, Trade, and Holdings. Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAS-SR11-Small-Arms-in-Brazil.pdf
[2] Alpers, Philip and Michael Picard (2022): Brazil – Gun Facts, Figures and the Law. Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. GunPolicy.org. https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/brazil
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Further information
Accidental explosions
Since the beginning of data collection in 1979 by the Small Arms Survey, five accidental explosions were reported in Brazil (Table 1).
Table 1. Accidental explosions in Brazil (1979-2021)
Year | Location | Owner/manager | Deaths | Injuries |
2012 | Alagoas | State (police) | 1 | 4 |
2009 | São José dos Campos | State (military) | 0 | 1 |
2007 | São Paulo | State (police) | 1 | 5 |
1995 | Ilha do Boqueirão | State (military) | 0 | 23 |
1995 | Paracambi | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: Small Arms Survey (December 2021): Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS). Database. https://smallarmssurvey.org/database/unplanned-explosions-munitions-sites-uems
Cases of diversion
Numerous cases of diversion have been reported in Brazil (Table 2).
Table 2. Cases of diversion of arms, ammunition, and explosives in Brazil
Year | Location | Description |
2011-2020 | The state of São Paulo | More than 33,000 weapons were diverted from the legal to the illegal market. |
2000-2010 | Rio de Janeiro | 8,912 cases of diversion of arms from both private and public holdings were reported. |
Sources: Gonçalves, Caroline and Kai Michael Kenkel (2018, August 17): Implementing SDG Target 16.4 Illicit Arms Flows, Diversion, and Corruption in Rio de Janeiro. Small Arms Survey. https://smallarmssurvey.medium.com/illicit-arms-flows-diversion-and-corruption-in-rio-de-janeiro-moving-towards-implementation-of-81033960b8c5; Langeani, Bruno and Ingrid Passos (2022, May): Fatal Diversion the Leakage of Weapons from the Legal to the Illegal Market in the State of São Paulo. Sou da Paz Institute. https://soudapaz.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Fatal-Diversion-Report-05242022.pdf
Disposal
Insufficient information on the disposal of ammunition in Brazil.
Needs
No reported needs have been identified for Brazil.
Source: PoA Report 2018, Brazil. https://unoda-poa.s3.amazonaws.com/reports/BRA-English-769-SUBMITTED.pdf
