Good news from here.

[WingChun Lawyer]

The brazilian government wants to absolutely prohibit private gun ownership.

About two years ago, an extremely restrictive law was passed to that end, making gun ownership expensive and difficult. The interested person must provide criminal certificates proving he was never condemned, and even a police report filed against that person (with NO condemnation) can stop someone from acquiring a legal weapon; also, you must be over 25 to even ask for the license, and that is only to have a weapon home, NOT to carry it (a carry permit is almost impossible to get).

The license itself is also expensive. I heard the license and a decent handgun, together, would cost about 2,000 reais - our minimum wage is about 200 reais.

But this wasn´t enough for our government, oh no. They wanted to absolutely prohibit gun ownership, so they made an amendment to that law to that end, forbiding the commerce of weapons and ammunition here.

But they wanted to make it look like a democratic decision, so they decided to make a referendum. They decided to let the people decide: yesterday, all of the country (about 122 million voters) decided whether or not the commerce of weapons and ammunition should be forbidden in Brazil.

The purpose of such a maneuver, of course, was twofold. The government wanted to make the rape of our right to self defense a legitimate proposition, and they wanted to reinforce their own popularity in a moment of political crisis involving corruption (long story).

Anyway, both government and media made a big circus act out of it. Globo Television (the biggest TV channel here), all artists in Globo´s payroll, all the old leftists who became famous or influential, the Presidente himself...they all tried to sell us a big package of hypocrisy, under thoughtful slogans such as "Guns kill!" and "There is no legitimate use for a weapon!" and "It is the duty of the State to provide for our safety!".

So we were told that EVERY SINGLE TIME someone tries to react to a robbery or rape attempt that person was killed, using dubious statistics and ignoring the hard facts: most of the crime here is commited with illegal weapons smuggled through Paraguay, and criminals do not register their weapons, period. Also, most gun confrontations are simply not registered.

I mean, it was a really impressive show. All of the media, all of our artists, most of our politicians - every one of them was trying to appear in a good light, as defenders of the children who would get their parent´s weapons and shoot their little brother. They called people who believed in self defense facists, nazis, and war mongerers.

It appeared they would win.

Until about three weeks ago, when the polls started to point a change in popular opinion. Apparently, according to our polls, brazilians, for a change, DID NOT form their opinions on this issue based on TV programs or propaganda.

Nope. This time, brazilians based their opinions on INDEPENDENT RESEARCH AND TALK WITH RELATIVES AND FRIENDS. Meaning, we formed our own opinions: research institutes pointed that out, and I smiled.

The results? Yesterday, 67% of us said **** YOU to the assholes in charge. We want our right to self defense you bastards, and we are not selling it for carnival, music or the media.

So private gun ownership remains a possibility in Brazil, despite what the government and the media want.

By the way, personally, I don´t like guns. I don´t own a weapon, nor do I intend to in the foreseeable future: they make me nervous, and I don´t know how to use one.

But this does not make me blind to the fact that I live in a violent country where guns are sadly needed, where criminals are armed to the teeth, and where the police is frequently corrup and violent. So I will not take away that right from my fellow citizens.

In short:

WE FUCKING ROCK. WE>MEDIA. WE WON´T BE FOOLED, ASSHOLES.

Sorry for the long rant, I am in a really good mood. Damn, I am starting to believe there is still hope for my country.

[Phrost]

Good job, Brazil.

[Mr. Mantis]

I thought about you when I heard this news this morning.

[Leodom]

Wooohoooo!

Way to go Brazilians.
:qright2: :qleft6: :qleft7: :new_2guns :sniperdan :qright6: :new_snipe:

[Ronin]

Guns?
GUNS ??
We don't need no stinkin Guns !!

[WingChun Lawyer]

Thanks guys!

To tell you the truth, if I did not know bullshido I might have voted against gun ownership, I used to be one of those idiots who wanted to share their fear of weapons with everyone else. Still, I do realize I must vote with responsibility, and it seems most brazilians feel the same way - pretending weapons do not exist will achieve nothing.

I used to make fun of gun toting texans, now I can relate to them, at least on this issue.

I thought about you when I heard this news this morning.

So the referendum has received worldwide attention, has it? I read somewhere that most of the world media was in favour of the prohibition here, is that true?

By the way, I must say I do believe that, at least in my country, weapons should indeed be registered. I know many americans hate that, but this is not the USA, so I do believe we should at least try to keep weapons away from people with criminal backgrounds and under a certain age.

That said, I really believe that license should be much cheaper. Bloody hell, poor people are the ones who need weapons the most, they should be able to afford them! I can afford that price, but I (fortunately) live in a good area of town where I do not need firepower to get home.

[WingChun Lawyer]

Guns?
GUNS ??
We don't need no stinkin Guns !!

Sadly for us, we do.

[Ronin]

Sadly for us, we do.

So, the criminals have guns.
The people have guns.
Where does that leave the cops ?
The Non-corrupt ones I mean ( if you can find them).

[WingChun Lawyer]

So, the criminals have guns.
The people have guns.
Where does that leave the cops ?
The Non-corrupt ones I mean ( if you can find them).

Seriously, two weeks ago I was at home with Luciana when we heard shots. First we run to the kitchen, away from the windows: when the noise stopped, we looked outside.

The police had shot two guys in a car. The FIRST thing we thought was, ****, they killed a couple of innocent men. Luciana started to sob.

Minutes later we found out those guys had robbed a residential building and had taken hostages there. The police caught those guys while they were trying to escape in a stolen car: there were five robbers total, the cops killed one and arrested two, two managed to run away.

No innocents were killed or hurt.

I mean, sure, there are a LOT of corrupt cops here. But the sad part is, when the good ones do their job well, as they did this time, our first instinct is to call them corrupt murderers.

Poor guys, I do not envy their jobs. And they earn a pittance.

[lawdog]

So the referendum has received worldwide attention, has it? I read somewhere that most of the world media was in favour of the prohibition here, is that true?

Most of the world media is in favor of prohibition everywhere.

Way to beat it!