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Jair Bolsonaro and guns: A US culture war raging in Brazil
BBC News ^ | November 15, 2021 | By Katy Watson

Posted on 11/15/2021 11:25:11 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

Gun culture was a key part of Jair Bolsonaro's winning campaign to become Brazil's president. Three years later, what impact has he had on the nation's relationship with firearms and how much has US politics played a part?

Rice and beans hold an important place in the heart of most Brazilians.

In this deeply divided country, where almost everything is politicised, at least the famous "feijao" is a food loved by everyone. That is, until recently - when Jair Bolsonaro tried to put a political spin on the humble bean.

"The left says that people don't eat guns, they eat beans," he joked. He had a few weeks earlier attacked his critics for saying that buying food was more important for Brazilians than buying firearms. "So when someone attacks your house, shoot beans at them," he said ironically.

It is yet another example of Bolsonaro sticking two fingers up at his critics. And they're well-used fingers. Throughout his campaign trail in 2018, he used them in a pistol hand gesture as a clear message to his supporters - even in a country with one of the world's highest rates of gun deaths, easing firearms laws was a top priority.

And on 15 January 2019, just two weeks after taking power, he made good on his promise. The Brazilian president signed a decree making it easier for Brazilians to keep weapons at home and at the same time, increasing the validity of gun licences from five years to 10.

It was, according to Bolsonaro, a step that would enable "upstanding citizens to have peace inside their homes".

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; brazil; jairbolsonaro; nra; secondamendment

1 posted on 11/15/2021 11:25:11 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Ancient Brazilian proverb: never bring a bean to a gunfight.


2 posted on 11/15/2021 11:29:13 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
"So when someone attacks your house, shoot beans at them," he said ironically.

When I was in Junior High School I was pretty good with a soda straw and a soy bean.

3 posted on 11/15/2021 11:33:53 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Bolsonaro is taking a very proactive approach to dealing with the cartels. Unlike the liberal politicians here, he’s actively supporting their law enforcement community’s war against crime.......And they’re not messing around.


4 posted on 11/15/2021 11:43:25 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (My favorite word is Tweezer)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Trump, Trump, Trump of the Tropics...


5 posted on 11/15/2021 11:49:11 AM PST by rfp1234 (Comitia asinorum et rhinocerum delenda sunt.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Rice and beans hold an important place in the heart of most Brazilians.

This is true.

Água no feijão que chegou mais um,Chegou mais um, chegou mais um...

6 posted on 11/15/2021 12:05:46 PM PST by Caipirabob (Communists...Socialists...Fascists & AntiFa...Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The linked article claims that there are 1.3 million guns in Brazil for a population of 200 million and that there are 40,000 gun deaths per year.

Here in the U.S., with a population around 300 million we have reportedly more than 300 million guns. If guns were the root cause of gun deaths then we should expect 200 times as many gun deaths as occur in Brazil. Instead we have roughly the same number as Brazil.

We don't have greater gun deaths because guns are not the root cause of gun deaths. Evil people are the root cause of gun deaths. I have no doubt that the author of the article knows this. He doesn't say so because it wouldn't advance his anti-gun agenda.

7 posted on 11/15/2021 12:16:03 PM PST by William Tell
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Some of my favorite firearms came from Brazil - guessing the folks there are not stuck with 'Saturday night specials'...

;>)

8 posted on 11/15/2021 12:24:11 PM PST by Who is John Galt? ("Shoeless Joe" played for the White Sox; "Clueless Joe" lives in the White House...)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

When there’s a lot of crime is exactly when normal people need access to guns.


9 posted on 11/15/2021 12:26:59 PM PST by old-ager
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To: William Tell

I have no idea about Brazil, but in the U.S. you should subtract half of those 40,000 gun deaths as suicides.

And lest someone argues that suicides in the U.S. would be much lower if all guns were banned, South Korea has almost zero legal gun ownership and has a suicide rate nearly double that of the U.S.


10 posted on 11/15/2021 12:36:48 PM PST by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Who is John Galt?

Shhh, don’t waken the anti-taurus mob.

CC


11 posted on 11/15/2021 12:59:06 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: Celtic Conservative
;>)
12 posted on 11/15/2021 1:06:11 PM PST by Who is John Galt? ("Shoeless Joe" played for the White Sox; "Clueless Joe" lives in the White House...)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

A couple of decades ago Brazil was on the verge of banning the ownership of firearms in that nation.

Pro-gun groups in Brazil asked the US NRA to help in the matter. After all was said and done, the Brazilians realized the government was filling them with empty promises of safety, and rejected the anti-gun proposals.


13 posted on 11/15/2021 1:19:47 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (ONE MORE DAY in FB jail! Then I will be out and on the prod again!)
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