Lula’s push to curb Brazil’s guns starts with counting them

By LAÍS MARTINS
Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — President Jair Bolsonaro tried to convert a country with few weapons into one where firearm ownership and lack of regulation meant personal freedom. The right-wing Bolsonaro echoed aspects of American conservativism and he was the first Brazilian presidential candidate to campaign on a pro-gun platform. Now, his left-wing successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is undoing Bolsonaro’s pro-gun policies. That starts by requiring gun owners to register their weapons with the Federal Police, and he is seeing some success. At Rio’s Federal Police headquarters, officers have registered guns belonging to as many as 50 people per day. They were initially wary, but have come around.