On 23 October 2005, Brazilians will be able to vote in a radical referendum that is without precedent in the world: to choose if civilians should be allowed to buy guns.
This is a vital moment for Brazilians, who suffer the largest number of gun homicides in the world: 39,000 firearms deaths each year, many of them young people aged between 15 and 24.
Brazilian campaigners are convinced that the approval of this measure through a popular vote will be a major victory for the fight against violence in Brazil.
It is also a vital moment for the rest of the world, which will be watching carefully. If Brazil’s people vote for the prohibition of gun sales, this will reinforce the movement in favor of gun control in other Latin American countries riddled with armed violence, and back the efforts to control private gun ownership at international level.
Brazil has already been taking dramatic steps against the scourge of guns. After a decade of campaigning by Brazilian society, with increasingly strong demands for concrete changes from the government, the Disarmament Statute was passed in December 2003.
This new law banned the carrying of guns, drastically restricted their sale, and included measures to decrease the number of guns already in circulation. It also requires this new referendum to be held: the first referendum on any subject in Brazil, and the first referendum on gun ownership in the world.
A unique opportunity
For IANSA members in Brazil, the referendum is a huge opportunity and the culmination of years of campaigning.
The outcome is difficult to foresee. Opinion polls suggest that 60 to 80% of Brazilians favour a prohibition on gun sales to civilians.
But the powerful lobby of the Brazilian national arms and ammunition industry, with support from the National Rifle Association in the US, is also gearing up, and has announced it will invest US $1 million in the campaign.
Already the Brazilian pro-gun lobby has tried to prevent the referendum taking place, with ten months of political maneuvering. These delaying tactics were only overcome through enormous efforts by Brazilian civic organisations, who held constant rallies and distributed statistics on firearms violence to congressmen. The final vote on the referendum was 258 votes in favour, 48 against, and 5 abstentions.
A YES vote would be a message from the people that they do not want their houses, streets, schools and public spaces awash with guns; that they do not want their young people to risk being in the path of bullets every time they step outside. It would be a message to the world that the majority of people do not believe that having guns in their communities makes them safer.
Message from Desmond Tutu to the Brazilian people on the national gun referendum
Dear friends,
You have a wonderful opportunity on the 23 October to make a difference to your lives and the lives of your children. A society without guns is a society that is taking control of its destiny. By saying YES on 23 October you are saying that you refuse to be intimidated, that you want to live in peace and not in fear and that you want your children to be safe. There is no such thing as a safe gun. Guns are designed to kill people quickly and easily. Too easily - how many more families must weep for a child, a father, a teenager?
Controlling access to guns is the first step to reducing violent crimes, injuries and death. In South Africa we too have far too many handguns in our communities. The situation is getting worse - the more guns, the more violence.
We look to you in Brazil to show us the way. Ban guns. Take the guns out of your homes and off your streets, help to make our world a safer place.
(Fredericksburg, VA USA) -- When the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was launched in 1992, even the most optimistic among us did not think it likely that we would remove landmines from the world s arsenals. Because their use was so longstanding and so widespread, the vision of a ban seemed far from reality. But in just five amazing years, the ordinary citizens who made up the landmine campaign came together to accomplish the extraordinary – an international treaty banning landmines. That same year, when the ICBL and I were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee applauded us for transforming “a vision to a feasible reality.” The Committee also recognized the campaign as a model that “could prove to be of decisive importance to the international effort for disarmament and peace.” And the struggle for continued disarmament goes on.
On October 23, Brazil will become the first country in the world to put its national gun laws to a popular vote. The referendum, together with the other measures contained in its internationally-recognized Disarmament Statute, have put the country in the global spotlight for taking bold steps to curb the unacceptable levels of death and injury caused by guns.
Now the ordinary citizens of Brazil are being called upon to decide whether to prohibit the sale of guns and ammunition. In the lead up to that referendum, Brazilians will undoubtedly be reflecting on their own vision for a more peaceful and just society: How can we best make sure that families and loved ones are safe from the very real threat of gun violence? Is it really possible to prevent this senseless loss of life? Can we – can our vote – really make a difference?
Building peace is hard work. It is often the work of solitary courage – countless individual acts that contribute to real change. Creating a more peaceful society requires transforming entrenched views. The success of the ICBL highlights the significance of finding creative solutions for such transformation. The Brazilian gun referendum is another such creative response to try to reduce the human cost of these lethal weapons.
Just as in our work against landmines, Brazilian civil society has been involved in all stages of the process. Family members and survivors of gun violence in Brazil have participated in political negotiations. NGOs have made important contributions to designing and implementing disarmament programs, such as the voluntary weapons campaign, which has removed over 407,000 guns from circulation.
As one of five women honored with a Nobel Peace Prize in the past fifteen years, I would like to underscore the importance of women’s participation in particular. Though women are the minority of arms users, too often we are caught in the crossfire. Women often provide emotional or financial support in communities devastated by gun violence as well as caring for the wounded. Around the world, women are struggling for meaningful inclusion in formal peace building and disarmament processes. The women of Brazil – who are the majority of voters – now have an historic opportunity to have a decisive impact on security policy.
While national in scope, the Brazilian gun referendum can make a significant contribution to the prevention of armed violence globally. Brazil’s leadership on the issue in Latin America -- the region with the highest levels of gun homicides anywhere in the world – has already lead to other countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay taking steps to tighten their own national gun laws. The 8% drop in gun deaths last year recorded by the Brazilian Ministry of Health is a promising indicator that tightening gun laws has positive results for human security.
A YES vote in October’s referendum will send a clear message that Brazilian men and women are committed to actively transforming their beautiful country into a safer place -- and this message will reverberate around the world. Further, Brazilian support for the Arms Trade Treaty, a global arms control initiative put forward with the support of Nobel Peace Laureates, would also be strategic. Regional and international cooperation are, of course, critical to curtailing arms trafficking and to stemming the flow of weapons into Brazil, before and after the referendum.
My own experience with the landmines campaign has made me a firm believer: YES it is possible for ordinary citizens to come together and achieve the extraordinary. YES it is possible to have a vision of a more peaceful world and make that vision a reality. Voting YES on October 23 is a contribution toward creating that reality.
(*) Jody Williams is the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and now serves as the campaign Ambassador. In 1997 Ms. Williams and the ICBL were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for achieving an international treaty banning antipersonnel mines.
***
"Sendo necessária à segurança de um Estado livre a existência de uma milícia bem organizada, não se impedirá o direito do povo de possuir e portar armas" (II Emenda à Constituição dos EUA).
"A urgência em salvar a humanidade quase sempre mascara a urgência em dominá-la" (H.L.Mencken).
