Brazilian Gun Lobby Resists Lula Government

Participants emphasized that shooting and hunting are cultural traditions passed down through generations of German and Italian immigrants. Santa Catarina has approximately 120,000 registered shooters, making it the 4th largest region in Brazil by shooter population.

Specifically, surveillance has been enhanced, with facial recognition technology used at shooting ranges to transmit visit information to the state in real time, and the system changed from a national common license to individual licenses for each shooting range.

Legal gun owners in Brazil argue that the problem lies with illegal firearms, not legal ones.

They emphasize that their firearms are strictly managed at registered addresses and claim that shooters are under significant pressure due to government regulations, with thousands of gun licenses expiring last July.

Fabi Benites, a shooting instructor close to former President Flavio Bolsonaro, is preparing to run for state legislator with the support of gun advocacy groups. They aim to mobilize 2 million non-voters from four years ago to change the election landscape.

Gun advocacy groups counter the government's claims of violence by presenting statistics showing that Santa Catarina, despite having the most firearms in Brazil, is one of its safest states.