Wow - I am impressed!!
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/10/23/brazil.gun.referendum.ap/index.html
Brazilians look set to reject ban on gun sales
Sunday, October 23, 2005 Posted: 2314 GMT (0714 HKT)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazilians appeared to soundly reject a ban on gun sales in a national referendum Sunday that stirred a fierce debate in a country with one of the world's highest gun death rates.
With results from over 71 percent of the polling places tallied, 64.78 percent of Brazilians voted against the ban, while 35.22 percent voted in favor of it, according to the Supreme Electoral Court, which oversees elections.
Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year. While both sides in the debate agree that violence is excessive, opponents of the gun ban have gained support in recent weeks by playing on Brazilians' fears that the police can't protect them.
"I don't like people walking around armed on the street. But since all the bandits have guns, you need to have a gun at home," said taxi driver Mohammed Osei, who voted against the ban.
An estimated 120 million Brazilians cast ballots in the referendum. Voting is mandatory for people between ages 18 and 70, but Brazilians as young as 16 can vote. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voted early in a public school in suburban Sao Paulo. He told reporters he voted in favor of the ban.
If it had passed, the referendum would have prohibited the sale of firearms and ammunition except for police, the military, some security guards, gun collectors and sports shooters. It would complement a 2003 disarmament law that sharply restricts who can legally purchase firearms and carry guns in the street.
That law, coupled with a government-sponsored gun buyback program, has reduced deaths from firearms by about 8 percent this year, the Health Ministry said.
But the referendum may have backfired for its proponents. Earlier this year, support for the ban was running as high as 80 percent. But in the weeks before the referendum, both sides were granted free time to present their cases on prime-time TV, and the pro-gun lobby began to grow.
"I turned in my gun (during the gun buyback) but what I don't want is the government to take my gun away from me. Voting 'yes' would open the door to another 'yes' that one day could limit my right to a car, to property" said retiree Vicente Martinelli.
Campaign 'imported from the United States'
Analysts said the pro-gun lobby benefited from equal time on television in the final weeks of the campaign and that they cannily cashed in on Brazilian skepticism of the police.
"They ask the question: 'Do you feel protected and do you think the government is protecting you?' and the answer is a violent no," said political scientist David Fleischer of the University of Brasilia.
Some Brazilians said they resented the referendum because they feel the government is ducking its responsibility to keep the peace.
"It's immoral for the government to have this vote," said Pedro Ricardo, an army officer in Sao Paulo. "They're putting the responsibility on us, but ... the way to cut down on violence is to combat the drug trade and patrol our borders."
The combination of Brazil's high gun-death rate and the nature of the debate over the right to gun ownership has drawn parallels to the gun debate in the United States, where the National Rifle Association, or NRA, a gun owners' lobbying group, has successfully fought gun control legislation, citing provisions in the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right to bear arms.
"Their whole campaign (against the ban) was imported from the United States. They just translated a lot of material from the NRA. Now, a lot of Brazilians are insisting on their right to bear arms, they don't even have a pseudo right to bear arms. It's not in their Constitution," said Jessica Galeria, an American who researches gun violence with the Viva Rio think tank.
Supporters maintained the ban on gun sales is the only way to make Brazil safer.
"We have to do something about the violence in this country," said Paulo Leite, an engineer from the upscale Ipanema beach district.
About 39,000 people in Brazil are killed by guns each year, compared to about 30,000 people in the United States, although the U.S. population is about 100 million more than Brazil's, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to UNESCO, Brazil ranks second worldwide in deaths by guns, with 21.72 per 100,000 people a year. Venezuela has 34.3 gun deaths per 100,000.
But in shantytowns like Vila do Joao, the rate rises to around 150 per 100,000. And for males between 17 and 24, the death rate is closer to 250 per 100,000.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/10/23/brazil.gun.referendum.ap/index.html
Brazilians look set to reject ban on gun sales
Sunday, October 23, 2005 Posted: 2314 GMT (0714 HKT)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazilians appeared to soundly reject a ban on gun sales in a national referendum Sunday that stirred a fierce debate in a country with one of the world's highest gun death rates.
With results from over 71 percent of the polling places tallied, 64.78 percent of Brazilians voted against the ban, while 35.22 percent voted in favor of it, according to the Supreme Electoral Court, which oversees elections.
Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year. While both sides in the debate agree that violence is excessive, opponents of the gun ban have gained support in recent weeks by playing on Brazilians' fears that the police can't protect them.
"I don't like people walking around armed on the street. But since all the bandits have guns, you need to have a gun at home," said taxi driver Mohammed Osei, who voted against the ban.
An estimated 120 million Brazilians cast ballots in the referendum. Voting is mandatory for people between ages 18 and 70, but Brazilians as young as 16 can vote. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voted early in a public school in suburban Sao Paulo. He told reporters he voted in favor of the ban.
If it had passed, the referendum would have prohibited the sale of firearms and ammunition except for police, the military, some security guards, gun collectors and sports shooters. It would complement a 2003 disarmament law that sharply restricts who can legally purchase firearms and carry guns in the street.
That law, coupled with a government-sponsored gun buyback program, has reduced deaths from firearms by about 8 percent this year, the Health Ministry said.
But the referendum may have backfired for its proponents. Earlier this year, support for the ban was running as high as 80 percent. But in the weeks before the referendum, both sides were granted free time to present their cases on prime-time TV, and the pro-gun lobby began to grow.
"I turned in my gun (during the gun buyback) but what I don't want is the government to take my gun away from me. Voting 'yes' would open the door to another 'yes' that one day could limit my right to a car, to property" said retiree Vicente Martinelli.
Campaign 'imported from the United States'
Analysts said the pro-gun lobby benefited from equal time on television in the final weeks of the campaign and that they cannily cashed in on Brazilian skepticism of the police.
"They ask the question: 'Do you feel protected and do you think the government is protecting you?' and the answer is a violent no," said political scientist David Fleischer of the University of Brasilia.
Some Brazilians said they resented the referendum because they feel the government is ducking its responsibility to keep the peace.
"It's immoral for the government to have this vote," said Pedro Ricardo, an army officer in Sao Paulo. "They're putting the responsibility on us, but ... the way to cut down on violence is to combat the drug trade and patrol our borders."
The combination of Brazil's high gun-death rate and the nature of the debate over the right to gun ownership has drawn parallels to the gun debate in the United States, where the National Rifle Association, or NRA, a gun owners' lobbying group, has successfully fought gun control legislation, citing provisions in the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right to bear arms.
"Their whole campaign (against the ban) was imported from the United States. They just translated a lot of material from the NRA. Now, a lot of Brazilians are insisting on their right to bear arms, they don't even have a pseudo right to bear arms. It's not in their Constitution," said Jessica Galeria, an American who researches gun violence with the Viva Rio think tank.
Supporters maintained the ban on gun sales is the only way to make Brazil safer.
"We have to do something about the violence in this country," said Paulo Leite, an engineer from the upscale Ipanema beach district.
About 39,000 people in Brazil are killed by guns each year, compared to about 30,000 people in the United States, although the U.S. population is about 100 million more than Brazil's, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to UNESCO, Brazil ranks second worldwide in deaths by guns, with 21.72 per 100,000 people a year. Venezuela has 34.3 gun deaths per 100,000.
But in shantytowns like Vila do Joao, the rate rises to around 150 per 100,000. And for males between 17 and 24, the death rate is closer to 250 per 100,000.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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