The NRA Takes on Gun Control -- in Brazil

By Kelly Hearn, AlterNet. Posted October 25, 2005.

Brazilians flatly rejected a plan to ban the commercial sale of firearms and ammunition in a historic national referendum on Sunday. The vote is a victory for Brazil's wealthy gun lobby which opponents say used strategies learned from the National Rifle Association to shift public opinion.

An estimated 122 million citizens took part in the referendum -- the first of its kind in the world -- and preliminary counts showed 64 percent went against the ban while 36 percent backed it. The referendum -- which asked the simple question "Should the commercial sale of guns and ammunition to civilians be prohibited?" -- divided the country, a world leader in gun deaths, into "não" and "sim" camps.

Two months ago, polls showed 60 to 80 percent of Brazilians favored the ban as a way to control the estimated 17 million small arms that are circulating in the country. But as the vote neared, and as both sides of the issue were given free television time, a slick media blitz by the gun lobby appears to have shifted enough voter opinion.

"The 'no' vote shows that the gun lobby successfully used its power and wealth to play on Brazilians' fear and lack of confidence in the state's ability to provide security," said Jessica Galeria of Viva Rio, a Brazilian gun control group. "But the results of the referendum don't mean that Brazil believes having more guns will bring peace. We will keep fighting for full implementation of the good gun laws introduced in 2003, which saved 3,234 lives the following year."

Some 39,000 Brazilians lost their lives to guns in 2003, according to the United Nations, which also says 500,000 Brazilians died from arms between 1979 and 2003. Like other Latin American nations where weak gun laws and sporadic enforcement are problems, Brazil also has porous borders, especially the Triple Border area, a widely recognized hub of contraband located at the border intersection of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. That helps explain how in Rio de Janeiro, for example, the gun death rate among young people is 239 per 100,000 residents, twenty times more than America and 2,000 times greater than Japan's, according to IANSA.

Brazil's gun control laws are already strict. In 2003, lawmakers passed a landmark law that, among other things, dramatically restricted gun sales and outlawed the carrying of guns by civilians. The Disarmament Statute of 2003, which also mandated yesterday's referendum, caused a 13 percent drop in gun deaths last year, according to Brazilian government statistics. For his part, President Lula da Silva supported the ban but his Vice President and Minister of Defense José Alentar did not. Speaking to local media in early October, Alentar said he opposed the ban "because he is in favor of liberty" and that a prohibition would only "encourage bandits" who "will always be armed."

Shady Campaigning

Activists groups such as the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), a UK-based global network consisting of more than 700 gun control groups, were hoping for a "yes" vote in part for the momentum it would give movements in other countries. But in the end they could not match the gun industry's money and what some critics are calling shady campaign tactics.

During the last decade, Brazil's wealthy but then-disorganized gun lobby was outmaneuvered by grassroots groups such as Viva Rio in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo's Sou da Paz, and the Brasilia-based Convive. As Congress addressed the 2003 bill, which had evolved from an earlier bill in 1997, activists organized marches and lobbied lawmakers. One march in Rio de Janeiro drew 50,000 people in support of the Disarmament Statute in Rio de Janeiro, according to IANSA and a popular television show plugged the debate into one of its episodes.

Sensing the restrictive laws coming its way, Brazil's gun lobby turned to the National Rifle Association, which in 2003 sent one of its Washington lobbyists, Charles Cunningham, to São Paulo to discuss strategies. The NRA would not disclose the contents of that meeting but said it has no financial ties with any Brazilian groups. Gun control activists say the NRA's influence was key in the referendum. Gun backers translated NRA materials into Portuguese and use statistics and arguments that were similar to those used in NRA infomercials aired in the United States.The thrust of the "no" campaign, mirroring NRA strategy, was to cast the ban as a violation of the "right" to have guns, even though Brazilians officially have no such legal right, says Galeria and other activists.

Some campaign materials also relied on other brands of fear mongering. One pamphlet, described by Reuters, featured an image of Hitler giving a Nazi salute in an effort to link the dangers of disarmament with Nazism. One particularly controversial tactic was unveiled last week. In one opposition commercial that aired in early October, the gun lobby inappropriately linked the image of Nelson Mandela, a gun control supporter, with its cause. The commercial at one point showed a newspaper photograph of Mr. Mandela on an earlier trip to São Paulo, raising his hand in solidarity. A voiceover said, "Nelson Mandela came out of prison to fight against apartheid and free the blacks in South Africa."

Kelly Hearn is a former UPI staff writer who lives in Washington DC and Latin America. His work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, American Prospect, and other publications.

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