Living in Gotham City

From time to time, we can see reports on the news about insane people shooting others for no reason at all. It is like what happened in New York; a guy fired shots at dozens of people on the Brooklyn subway last month. According to the United States Constitution from the 18th century, all citizens have the right to carry firearms. So, Americans can buy them as early as 18 years old in many states; in some, even teenagers can get rifles, for example. However, things have been getting out of hand over there!

In April, to curb the crime wave, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced a new measure to regulate “ghost guns”, which are those purchased on the internet in parts and assembled by buyers. These guns do not have a serial number, so they are hard to trace. Therefore, besides putting a serial number on their parts, the companies that sell those kits must do a thorough background check on who buys them. However, the new bill was considered modest by groups demanding tough restrictions on guns.

Some years ago, Brazilians could also buy a pistol in sporting goods. It was even possible to buy it in the classified ads. Due to those indiscriminate sales, the Disarmament Statute was created, which came into force in Brazil on 22nd December 2003.

According to the statute, to get the licence to carry a weapon, it is necessary to prove the fundamental need to use it because of professional activity such as security guard, beyond not having a criminal record, getting psychological and technical capacity. Apart from that, the commercial establishment must be accredited by the Army Command to sell small and portable arms, ammo and accessories.

 

Nevertheless, the crime rate is still high here. The government has disarmed the population, but criminals have been getting weapons illegally. Thus, the current president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, argues for making them available again to all citizens. That proposal was rejected by all of us.

 

It is estimated that there are about 9 million illegal weapons in the world. By the way, Gotham City is here, is over there… Unfortunately.