Brazzil

A thoughtful and incisive look at the complexity of the gun issue, not without humor, that also addresses the underlying problem of being governed by fear.
Growing up in Britain we prided ourselves in the fact that the police did not carry guns contributing to a peaceful society. Today the guns are in the hands of the criminals and the police are having to look at ways to defend thmeselves......fear of those who wield the guns is apparent.

This is a shining example of what this website used to be about: reflection, perspective, commentary and most importantly, humor.

Just a reminder that in the US state of Florida, the violent crime rate dropped to one tenth of what it was when the state allowed citizens to carry concealed weapons.Why? Robbers etc are less likely to put themselves in a dangerous situation when they know that everyone potentially will retaliate.

Go Brazzil!

"I have a gun," I lied.

"Ha!" he replied. Which is Portuguese for "bulls**t!"

So I resolved to fire off a few rounds when I got home, just to show him.
-------------------------------------

Classic!

An excellently written article, to be sure. I think Geoffrey touched on some of the important, yet anachronistic, roots of modern American gun culture: namely the romantic era of the cowboys and frontiersmen in a time of lawlessness and westward expansionism and also that of the constitutional right to be bear arms. The USA nowadays is clearly not the land of cowboys and Indians, gunslingers and bandits, with train robberies and dramatic shootouts in the dusty streets outside the town saloon. And the USA nowadays is clearly also not the land it was during the American Revolutionary War, when the right to bear arms was granted to the citizenry for their protection from the British military. Wyatt Earp is long gone and America, long ago, gained its hard-fought independence and now considers Britain a major ally. The USA is a totally different country now. Instead of scalping, Indians now run casinos. Instead of fighting against us, the British have now joined us in the fight against world terrorism. Sure, there is a crime rate, mostly in the larger American cities, but that in no way justifies a national obsession with guns and/or gun-slinging. In my opinion, the only people who should be allowed to have firearms in the US are the police and the military. If animal control becomes an issue the government can take care of it. I have lived in large cities in the US for over 30 years and I have never felt the need to carry a gun. A few months ago I read about a man who had placed a loaded gun on his kitchen table. One day he was sitting at the table, enjoying the morning paper and feeling very safe in his household. Suddenly, the man's cat brushed against the gun, knocking it onto the floor. The gun fired and killed the man. ...How does that argument go? "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" Do you think in this case the man's cat was disgruntled and homicidal because his cat chow was stale and his litter box wasn't clean enough? Ha! If this moron hadn't had a gun in the first place he wouldn't have died so tragically. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Don't even get me started on Columbine...

What a great column. Rock on, Mister.

"Maybe it's because we encoded gun ownership in our Constitution. Possessing a gun is elevated to a level of import equal to liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Wrong. The "right to bear arms" is in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. It has been interpreted by the US Supreme Court NOT to confer a personal "inaleinable" right to possess or carry guns.

The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states: "No person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . ."

"Life, Liberty and the puruit of Happiness" are "inalienable rights" proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence.

And, it should be noted that gun crime has significantly dropped since the outlawing of carrying guns in Brazil -- so much so that the drastic drop in deaths has been given as an argument that outlawing gun sales is unnecessary.

I don't know about Florida, but the guy's argument above sounds spurious.

Yeah, the Florida argument is hogwash. “[T]he weight of the evidence is now firmly behind those who have found that RTC laws do not reduce, and may even increase, the overall level of crime”:

“Kovandzic and Marvell have now put the final bullet in the body of the more guns, less crime hypothesis. What makes their paper interesting and important is that, unlike Lott and Mustard as well as Ayres and Donohue whose primary work used panel data models across all 50 states with the date of adoption of the RTC law being the explanatory variable of interest, Kovandzic and Marvell looked at actual concealed carry permits by county to identify the effect on crime of the RTC law adopted in 1987 in Florida, a state that Lott and Mustard considered to be highly supportive of their thesis.5 Kovandzic and Marvell collected county data on crime and concealed handgun permits across Florida from 1980 – 2000 and concluded: ‘we find no credible statistical evidence that increases in permit rate growth (and presumably more lawful gun carrying) leads to substantial reductions in violent crime, especially homicide. Similar to Ayres and Donohue (2003), we find that our best, albeit admittedly imperfect, statistical evidence indicates that increases in permit rate growth may actually lead to slight increases in crime.’”

John J. Donohue III, Professor, Stanford Law School, The Final Bullet in the Body of the More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis, Forthcoming, Criminology and Public Policy, July 2003 http://www.irs.princeton.edu/seminars/donohue.pdf

According to the most recent data available from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, states with Right To Carry (RTC) laws had significantly lower overall violent and firearm-related violent crime per capita rates than other states:

Violent crime rate -- 22% lower Robbery rate -- 36% lower
Firearm violent crime rate -- 29% lower Firearm robbery rate -- 38% lower
Homicide rate -- 31% lower Aggravated assault rate -- 14% lower
Firearm homicide rate -- 38% lower Firearm aggravated assault rate-- 19% lower
Handgun homicide rate -- 41% lower

Florida`s homicide and handgun homicide rates had dropped 22% and 29% since adopting RTC in 1987, even as national rates had risen 15% and 50%. Anti-gun groups often try to malign Florida`s RTC law by noting that its total violent crime rate has increased since the law took effect, but an examination of violent crime data only supported RTC advocates` arguments -- since 1987, Florida`s violent crime rate had risen less (17.7%) than the U.S. as a whole (22.3%), and only 30% of Florida`s violent crimes involved firearms.

"http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=60"

I have lived around guns my whole life, nobody in my family has every had an accident. On my grandfathers farm, a rifle was a tool no different then a shovel. If someone is stupid enough to sit in his kitchen and read the paper with a loaded gun, the cat did us a favor weeding out another moron from the gene pool. However I have read various versions of this story over the years and that suggests it is a urban myth, probably written on a slow news day when the paper could not make up stories about Bush's military record. Only a non-gun owner would ever spew the tripe above. Indiana has similar statistics to Florida. That said I do not advocate similar gun laws in Brazil. Only the Brazilians know what will work for them. I grew up around rifles and shotguns, I was taught from very young not to touch a loaded weapon, and treat every rifle as if it is loadeded. Brazilians do not share a history and culture of hunting and shooting for sport. I do not advocate banning guns because law breakers facing jail could care less if they are charged with illegal possesion of a firearm. Anybody that thinks they can ban guns in the United States really has no clue on the statistic regarding unregistered weapons in the United States. Long before anyone heard of Jim Brady, guns were bought and sold without any type of police check. A well cared for weapon can last in prime condition for over a hundred years. I have a 75 year old pistol that fires better than a new 9 MM. You can advocate for only the military and police having guns, but there is a third group that will have them and when one breaks into your house, the only thing you'll have in your hand is your....... Anybody enters my home they face 12 ga buck shot.

Facts my ass.

Aren't sawed off shotguns illegal? They are where I live. They are sawed off only to be able to conceal them whey you want to rob a bank or commit some other heinous crime. What the hell is your hick relative doing with a sawed off shotgun?

Great article. The kindly mostly missing from Brazzil of late. As unbiased as one can expect and at least fair about biases. Thank you. Too bad there are not more like this.

in the USA whites are violent criminals!! blacks are law abiding citizens and Jews should controls us!! I wonder if it is the same in Brasil???

"You can advocate for only the military and police having guns, but there is a third group that will have them and when one breaks into your house, the only thing you'll have in your hand is your....... Anybody enters my home they face 12 ga buck shot."

I live in a major US city, right in the center of downtown, and have for years. Never in my life has anyone tried to break into my apartment. But, just in case, I lock my doors. I realize that break-ins do happen but since I don't like the idea of owning a gun I never forget to lock my doors. What if someday you forget to lock your door and your grandmother steps into your house without announcing her visit beforehand. Since shooting a gun has become second nature for you, you might simply shoot her in the head before realizing what a dumbass you are.

"in the USA whites are violent criminals!! blacks are law abiding citizens and Jews should controls us!! I wonder if it is the same in Brasil???"

WHAT??? What an outrageously ignorant statement! You're joking, right? By the way, "Brazil", in English, is spelled with a "z", moron.

And in Portuguese Brasil is spelled with an "s" . . . What's your point? (Not the person who wrote the stuff about violent criminals, just someone curious why you would be so outraged about the spelling of Bras/zil. On the other hand, the person's comments about "whites," "blacks," and "jews" do lend support to your assessment that the writer is, indeed, a moron.)

I'm not outraged by his bad spelling, I merely pointed it out because, in case you haven't noticed, we're speaking English here, not Portuguese. In English the word is spelled with a "z", not an "s". That's all. As far as the content of his statement, I suspect this guy is joking. Very few can actually be that ignorant. If he really is that ignorant I hope he'll spare us from any future contributions.

"in the USA whites are violent criminals!! blacks are law abiding citizens and Jews should controls us!! I wonder if it is the same in Brasil???"

As a Brazilian, I have to agree that the statement is just absolutely ludicrous and malicious.

"in case you haven't noticed, we're speaking English here, not Portuguese."

As vezes sim, as vezes nao (I don't know how to do accent marks on this damn PC . . . so "naum." How's that? Neither Portuguese nor English, but you know what I mean, right?).

"I have to agree that the statement is just absolutely ludicrous and malicious"

Well, I disagree. I think it was supposed to be malicious as to jews, but instead the person actually says that it would be better if jews controlled us all. That sounds like an endorsement to me. It's not malicious as to "blacks," except to the extent that the person is suggesting that "blacks" would be better off controled by jews. It is definitely negative toward whites, I'll give you that, yet it's true at the same time. The statement is partly true in that some "white" people are violent criminals and most "black" people are law abiding citizens, and vice versa. It's ludicrous if the person intended to say that "ALLwhites are violent criminals" and "All blacks are law abiding." But the guy didn't say that.

No, in the end, the first guy had it correct. The person who posted the comment is just a moron.

is determinded in part by your experience with crime. I've never been assaulted, have fired guvs, have never owned a gun. I have no desire to own a gun. However, if I were to become a victim of a violent assault, I would have to reconsider my stance.Of course some might say that my first encounter with a violent assault could be my last ( as in I die because of it ), and I do take that chance. There is no guarnntee a gun would save my life, it's more of a security blanket thing.

I read some statistic somewhere, not sure where, that people are very likely to be killed with their own gun they are carrying. I guess they hesitate and the criminal takes their gun and kills the person. I think is a fact but not sure. Also, in USA police officers who use guns only hit 2 out of 5 bullets fired. I was once in the middle of a gunshoot out in USA between drug dealers and police and one of the police officers shot himself in the leg with his own gun because he reacted too fast.

I want to live in Brazil and I have thought of carrying a gun to be safe, but what could I do if I am sitting in traffic in my car and two men on motorcycle pull up beside me and put gun to my head??

I think most brazil crime is random and I truly think that if you give the robber your money when he asks he wont kill you. That is why when I am in Brazil I keep my money in two different pockets, 50 reais in right pocket and 1000 reais in left, that way when I get robbed I give the 50 reais and my watch and pray I dont get my head blown off. Last resort, fork over the 1000.

American murders are usually domestic related, but in Brazil, random robbery/murders are more common. Brazil robbers use the "element of surprise" on their victims. even if you have gun probably wont do any good. And if you are at home and they try, then your maid probably sold your ass out and you wont even see it coming.

Best advice I can give. Be smart! Understand your environment whether in USA or Brazil. Carrying guns illegally will more often than not get you killed or put you in prison. How are you going to explain why you killed a 13 year old brazilian kid? He tried to rob you? Brazil government will ask why you were carrying gun illegally...then your dumb american ass will be in prison where you will NOT survive.

Understand Brazil has problems, but they are not much different than USA problems. It seems to me that the rich here in USA are getting richer and the poor much poorer. And poeple will do anything to eat. I dont care if they are brazilians or americans. It is our survival of the fittest mentality.

Americans going to Brazil need to understand that Brazil is a sovereign nation and we cannot push our way of life on them. Most of Brazils problems are because of USA. USA loans of billions of dollars to build Brasilia. Now Brazil cant pay back the loan. The result...50 million poor people in Brazil!

Americans are so smart they think they know the answer to every other nations problems, but when they in USA they go to mall scratching their asses buying 80 dollar faded baggy jeans and being rude to all they come across. Americans better wake up and stop judging other countries laws and policies.

I predict that some day Brazilians will laugh at how the USA has fallen. Those 80 million people that voted for Bush should be ashamed of themselves. What I have been watching on TV proves to me that USA is in for a very troublesome time. Funny thing is I dont care. I will get off on telling all those who put Bush in office it is there fault. but of course they will continue to carry their guns and "feel safe" and keep buying chinese goods from Walmart and continue to be the selfish bastards they are.

God Bless Brazil and I pray that all Brazilians will solve their problems. I truly believe they will.

All Americans must go to www.google.com and type in:

"Skull and Bones"

And read everything you find. Dont you think it is odd that George Bush and John Kerry are both active members of "Skull and Bones" society.

Check it out!!! Believe me, you will be amazed at how the American government has been pulling the wool over our eyes.

Every year at Yale University a certain number of Juniors are chosen to join skull and bones society. Is a very secret group.

Read it and tell me I am wrong!!!

Uh, tell us something we didn't know already. And how is this freaky fraternity of f**ked up rich boys relevant to the story?

Is inversely proportionate to the size of your penis.

Its relevant because you were fooled by what happened. Read about it and tell me I wrong. It has nothing to do with the story. It is my way of disseminating information. Information you will never hear from our fascist government.

Maybe you were fooled, but I wasn't.

I Don't Want Jewish World Domination !!!!

And satire. The statement written by your typical racist white America simply suggests that America is being run by Jews and that in the so-called media whites are the ones being portrayed as criminals while it is blacks who are the law abiding citizens. Simple American racist rubbish that many white Americans buy into that somehow black Americans are getting breaks with all of their liberal Jewish allies who control the media. Nothing short of racism and paranoia.

American jews do not control America and are in a conspiracy to have all the criminal blacks murder all the nice innocent white people. This is just American neo-nazi propaganda getting out. This is an impossible feat since America is a very segregated country and it would be impossible for hordes of blacks to enter a white community for the purposes of crime. Even the few blacks who live in these communities are racially profiled by police for wandering their own neighborhood.

I've always felt safe in Brazil. Much more so than in America where you have a lot of paranoid racist people walking around.

The siliness of the neo-nazi fool speaks for itself.

The author talks a lot about guns as part of national identity. I feel this is very much the case in America (e.g., western movies, gun issues in politics etc), but not in Brazil, even though the author saw more guns here. I feel that guns-as-part-of-national-identity, well described in the article, is a quintessentially American thing: I don't think that say, a Brit or a Frenchman would fire a gun to reassert his national identity.

Finally, I would like to add that the first-hand accounts of foreigners visiting Brazil are my favorite articles in this magazine. People are a lot more interesting than governments.

Everybody has their story, well written or not. Here's my short version...
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, in a "safe" part of town. I have never known a day where it has been legal for an American citizen to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

My father had a small collection of rifles and handguns that we would go out and shoot on occasion. Since I was a young boy I was taught how to use them and to stay away from them if I were home alone.

I practiced Judo and Boxing as I grew up, so I had a good sense of self defense in a situation if I were physically attacked. I was always taught to be aware of my surroundings.
At 19 years old, I earned my living doing tile work to pay my way through College. One evening I stayed late to finish a job tiling a restaurant floor. The owner left me the key and asked me to lock up. I finished around 2:00 in the morning and went about locking my tools away.

I was loading my tools into my truck parked in the back alley and found myself ambushed by a gang. They pressed a tire Iron (which I thought was a firearm) into the back of my head and told me to hold still and not look at them.

Meanwhile they looted my truck of all my tools, my wallet, and went into the restaurant where I had just finished working and stole liquor and food. During this entire time I held still looking at a wall, terrified to speak or examine my assailants.

When they finished, I was struck in the back of the head. Understanding that they intended on knocking me out, I pitched forward faking it. As they quickly took off I tried to check out their car, license plate, and faces but never gathered enough evidence to lead to arrests.

I realized they used a tire Iron to hold me up because the guy who struck me with it was carrying it as he walked away. (good thing I have a hard head)

Since that day I carried a concealed weapon on my person illegally. I've been carrying a gun for fifteen years now. I have used it in two different circumstances to save my life and the life of another.

I drove to a gas station and began filling gas. A group of men were sitting in a car on the other side of the pump talking to a woman who happened to be terrified.
They were asking her if she wanted to purchase cologne for her Father or Boyfriend and asked her to come closer to look at it. Something didnt feel right about the situation and I didnt want to get involved but I peeked around the pump to see what was going on.

She tried everything to kindly turn them down and finish getting her fill of gas, but they wouldnt have it. One of the passengers made a grab for her purse and caught the strap and a pulling fight ensued.

Around the time when the passenger in the backseat started to leave the vehicle is when I produced my weapon and threatened them. They took off in a hurry with the passenger door open and the guys leg dangling out.

I'd say I saved a life and averted a crime.

Years after this (a day before I happened to visit Brasil in fact), a man walked up to my vehicle as I was leaving a drive through restaurant. Again something didnt seem right so I produced my gun behind the door so he couldnt see what I was doing.

"Do you have some change you can spare me"? he asked

I started to look toward my passenger seat for my wallet and he reached for his belt. I pointed my gun in his face and told him "Dont you F---- think about it"

He dropped a firearm and ran away. I still have my assailants gun in my vault this very day.

I never reported these circumstances to the police. I know if I had, I would be the one in jail for defending myself and the life of that terrified woman who I never saw again.

I don't claim to be a gung ho vigilante, I'm just a regular guy living and letting live. I'm glad that in America I can afford to purchase a weapon to defend myself from violent criminals.

Enough of the politics, just have common sense. It should be a fundamental right for any citizen to have the means to self defense. In the modern world this is a Gun.

Women can't physicly fend off assailants, police response times are absurd in America, and are almost non existant in Brasil. Knives, batons, pepper spray, tasers, are nothing compared to a gun.

Yes there are scenarios where if a criminal has the jump on you, you're screwed. But statistics dont explain away the right to defend yourself.

I know people don't see the way I do. Some prefer to be sheep for the slaughter. I on the otherhand don't care for pacifism.

The only people that pacifism empower are the Evil Strong.

Thanks.