New research reveals that gun homicides in the state of São Paulo dropped 70% between 1999 and 2008. The report argues that the strong 2003 gun law (the Disarmament Statute) was vital to this decrease, especially the prohibition on carrying guns, which was enforced effectively in São Paulo state. The study was produced by Instituto Sou da Paz, an IANSA member in Brazil.

Over the course of two years Sou da Paz studied the implementation of the measures established by the Disarmament Statute. The study also presents formerly unknown statistics, such as:
• There are over 8 million legally registered firearms in Brazil;
• Brazil’s more than ten thousand collectors possess 66,400 firearms;
• In the state of São Paulo, 21,240 firearms have been stolen from private security companies;
• Between 1997 and 2008, the Brazilian Army destroyed a total of 1,885,910 weapons.

According to Daniel Mack, Arms Control Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at Sou da Paz, “the study confirms the undeniable success of Brazil’s gun control law, but also pinpoints areas in which its implementation is lacking, betraying the legislation’s potential to save even more lives. Brazil can’t afford to rest on its laurels, but rather must push towards full and effective implementation”.

In order to ensure stronger gun control in Brazil, the study recommends integrating civilian and military firearms databases; intensifying the control over firearms owned by private security companies; creating the ballistic database demanded by the law; improving physical control of State arsenals; and ending the legal status of private firearms collectors in Brazil or as a minimum alternative, determining that all weapons in collections have their shooting mechanism removed.

The Disarmament Statute was approved in December of 2003, after intense popular pressure. The results came immediately: 5,000 lives saved during the law’s first year in effect. Commercial gun sales dropped 90% and over half-a-million guns were removed from circulation.