Unironically, that's where the wild west went. There's too much history to go over, but it's literally true.
That being said, the gun crime situation in Brazil is extreme. Cartels and Gangs dominate the Favellas, and the government just made stronger gun control. The reason you see so many "off-duty cops" shooting criminals in Brazil is because many of the on-duty ones can't carry. The punishment for stealing a cop's gun is severe, so the robbers kill every single person who they steal a gun from. The police managed to get some exceptions into the law/legal system so they could carry guns off-duty. In fact, on-duty police shootings are under even more legal scrutiny than American cops.
What this means is that even if you're an on-duty cop in Brazil, you don't want to be seen with a gun because you'll be murdered for it. You also don't want to use a gun on duty because you'll catch a charge for it. So every cop carries off-duty, and basically no one else does. And when they get into a gunfight off duty, they are much more likely to get off.
What Bolsonaro did was loosen those restrictions, and allow for more uses of self-defense.
Thanks for the insight. Aside from the obvious internet searches is there a book or article that you can recommend that goes deeper into the history. I am pretty familiar with the Portuguese era and am curious how brazil was like in 1900-current.
Cartels and Gangs dominate the Favellas, and the government just made stronger gun control.
That sounds really stupid. So naturally it's something the government would do.
In fact, on-duty police shootings are under even more legal scrutiny than American cops.
I think that is typical for most civilized countries where police can carry. Where they don't have as many shootings in general as in the US. An officer firing their gun for any reason is a really big deal.
What Bolsonaro did was loosen those restrictions, and allow for more uses of self-defense.
I think that is typical for most civilized countries where police can carry.
This is pretty extreme. One incident I was thinking of was a man who was actively cutting a woman he was holding hostage, but wasn't shot until he stabbed her fully in the chest. He was there slashing at the woman's face and neck, but the cops wouldn't shoot.
Civilized countries allow for self-defense & the defense of others, and this wasn't that. This was, what a lot of these policies do, support for criminality.
That's good. So the gun control happened earlier?
It happened decades earlier. This is what happened when socialist governments abound.
Unironically, that's where the wild west went. There's too much history to go over, but it's literally true
My personal favorite bit of Brazillian history is the fact that some remnant of the Confederacy also went there, so there are small pockets of Southern US culture bred into Brazillian one.
When the Confederacy collapsed a few thousand people moved to Brazil to escape the Union. Brazil was popular because the Emperor at the time was both a huge Confederate supplier and supporter during the war and was offering land for 22 cents an acre to them. He even helped the travel costs, guaranteed them quick citizenship and often would personally greet them on arrival.
For a lot of reasons it didn't go super well, but by the time things settled down there were about 3500 of them who just settled their area and kept going into the now. Now there are small communities that still celebrate the Confederate history simply because its their own history.
Unironically, that's where the wild west went. There's too much history to go over, but it's literally true.
That being said, the gun crime situation in Brazil is extreme. Cartels and Gangs dominate the Favellas, and the government just made stronger gun control. The reason you see so many "off-duty cops" shooting criminals in Brazil is because many of the on-duty ones can't carry. The punishment for stealing a cop's gun is severe, so the robbers kill every single person who they steal a gun from. The police managed to get some exceptions into the law/legal system so they could carry guns off-duty. In fact, on-duty police shootings are under even more legal scrutiny than American cops.
What this means is that even if you're an on-duty cop in Brazil, you don't want to be seen with a gun because you'll be murdered for it. You also don't want to use a gun on duty because you'll catch a charge for it. So every cop carries off-duty, and basically no one else does. And when they get into a gunfight off duty, they are much more likely to get off.
What Bolsonaro did was loosen those restrictions, and allow for more uses of self-defense.
Thanks for the insight. Aside from the obvious internet searches is there a book or article that you can recommend that goes deeper into the history. I am pretty familiar with the Portuguese era and am curious how brazil was like in 1900-current.
Not in this case. This is mostly just what I've learned from the guys over at r/Brasillaver ? I can't remember how it's spelled.
Basically it was r-Brasil but more based because r-Brasil was rabid communists.
That sounds really stupid. So naturally it's something the government would do.
I think that is typical for most civilized countries where police can carry. Where they don't have as many shootings in general as in the US. An officer firing their gun for any reason is a really big deal.
That's good. So the gun control happened earlier?
This is pretty extreme. One incident I was thinking of was a man who was actively cutting a woman he was holding hostage, but wasn't shot until he stabbed her fully in the chest. He was there slashing at the woman's face and neck, but the cops wouldn't shoot.
Civilized countries allow for self-defense & the defense of others, and this wasn't that. This was, what a lot of these policies do, support for criminality.
It happened decades earlier. This is what happened when socialist governments abound.
My personal favorite bit of Brazillian history is the fact that some remnant of the Confederacy also went there, so there are small pockets of Southern US culture bred into Brazillian one.
Yes, that's one of the things I was thinking of.
Could you tell me more about this?
When the Confederacy collapsed a few thousand people moved to Brazil to escape the Union. Brazil was popular because the Emperor at the time was both a huge Confederate supplier and supporter during the war and was offering land for 22 cents an acre to them. He even helped the travel costs, guaranteed them quick citizenship and often would personally greet them on arrival.
For a lot of reasons it didn't go super well, but by the time things settled down there were about 3500 of them who just settled their area and kept going into the now. Now there are small communities that still celebrate the Confederate history simply because its their own history.
Thanks, this is interesting. Never really paid attention to Brazil before.
Hey, I too watched Butch Sundance and the Cassidy Kid! ;)