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A School Shooting in Brazil Complicates Bolsonaro’s Push to Ease Gun Laws

A School Shooting in Brazil Complicates Bolsonaro’s Push to Ease Gun Laws
A student places her handprints on a wall at the Raul Brasil State School one day after a mass shooting, Suzano, Brazil, March 14, 2019 (AP photo by Andre Penner).

Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a new series on gun policy and the debate over gun control around the world.

Last week, two gunmen opened fire at a high school near Sao Paulo, killing eight people, including five schoolchildren. The mass shooting has cast a spotlight on the issue of gun control in Brazil, as President Jair Bolsonaro makes a concerted push to relax restrictions on firearms. In an interview with WPR, Robert Muggah, co-founder and research director at the Igarape Institute in Brazil, discusses Brazil’s polarizing debate over guns and how Bolsonaro’s policy initiatives might be affected by the shooting.

World Politics Review: How strict are Brazil’s gun control laws currently, and how well are they enforced?

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