Brazil’s Bolsonaro backtracks on decree to ease gun control
Posted May 22, 2019 12:31 pm.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is drawing back on a decree to ease gun control that he signed earlier this month.
The government has published a new decree that reverses or tightens some parts of a May 7 decree that had drawn widespread criticism.
The earlier decree allowed purchase of more powerful guns, including some semi-automatic rifles. It also permitted all minors to practice sport shooting.
The new decree bans sale of rifles in most cases and establishes a minimum age of 14 to practice shooting.
In a statement Wednesday, the government says it’s making the changes due to “issues raised by the judiciary, the legislative branch and by society in general,” but said the decree’s “essence” was not changing.
The Associated Press
