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Trigger fingers twitch as Brazil votes on Trump of the Tropics

Surge in gun ownership provides a dangerous backdrop to election that could oust Bolsonaro

By Euan Marshall in Aracatuba

At the grand reopening of the Cia da Pesca gun shop in rural São Paulo, a crowd buzzes with anticipation for the guest of honour. When the “Hunter Samurai” finally arrives, he is mobbed by his adoring followers. Wearing his self-branded camouflage gear, he embraces the crowd for selfies before leading them in the Lord’s Prayer to “bless the shop”.

A tearful rendition of the national anthem follows. And then the shop’s owner announces the winners of a raffle, the top prize of which is a .22 calibre hunting rifle.

Half an hour later, the guest belts up the motorway for an event at another gun club, then another, and another.

“It’s like this everywhere he goes”, notes one member of his entourage. Hunter Samurai is the nickname adopted by Mardqueu França Filho, a gun-toting prospective state-level MP fiercely loyal to Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s hard-Right president.

In his first term, Mr Bolsonaro has greatly expanded gun licensing, and ownership has soared.

But as he faces defeat by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in today’s election, concern is growing over thousands of armed supporters radicalised by the Trump of the Tropics.

And in true Trump style, Mr Bolsonaro has hinted he would not accept defeat at the ballot box. Some fear a Jan 6-style insurrection.

A CNT/MDA poll published yesterday said aid “Lula” would win 48.3 per cent nt of the vote, putting him m within reach of avoiding a bruising run-off. Mr Bolsonaro ro was estimated to get 36.3 per cent.

The campaign paign has been littered with h shootings and stabbings, perpetrated almost exclusively usively by pro-Bolsonaro aro fanatics.

This week, k, Brazil’s Supreme Court ourt suspended permits for carrying g guns at least until the he end of the electoral period. eriod.

Shadowing ng the “Hunter Samurai” on n the campaign trail emphasises the huge number of new shooting ranges and gun shops across Brazil’s interior. Birigui near São Paulo, for instance, is home to four gun clubs and at least four shops selling firearms for a population of 120,000. Last year, an estimated one new gun club or shop was registered per day in the entire country.

César, owner of the Cia da Pesca shop opened by Mr Filho, credited Mr Bolsonaro for his booming business.

“I used to smuggle all of my guns from over the border in Paraguay,” Pa he says. “Bolsonaro changed ch all that.” Since taking office in 2019, 20 Mr Bolsonaro has issued more than th 40 decrees to loosen gun licence registration. reg

Civilians are not allowed to own guns, gu but there is special dispensation for hunters, sports shooters and collectors, co known as “CACs”.

In 2018, 117,000 licences were handed ha out, a number which has since increased inc fivefold. The 673,000 people registered reg own more than 1 million guns, gu including assault rifles.

The lack of regulation under Mr Bolsonaro Bo is being abused by criminal groups, gr with arsenals of legal firearms

and ammunition falling into the hands of drug cartels.

A victory would mark an extraordinary turnaround for “Lula”, who was wildly popular in his first stint as president but was later tarred by a massive corruption scandal.

Mr Filho and many of his gun-loving supporters are concerned about what a potential Lula government would mean for their gun licences, predicting a “hard battle ahead”.

“We can’t give them an inch. If you let someone take a flower from your garden, he’ll come back for another, then another.”

Mr Filho is confident that the polls will turn in Mr Bolsonaro’s favour,

believing it is he who will score a resounding victory.

Mr Bolsonaro claims the electronic voting system is susceptible to fraud, without providing proof.

He said that if he does not win today’s election with over 60 per cent of the vote, something “abnormal” will have happened.

“There are a lot of armed fanatics who support the president,” notes Ivan Marques, of the Brazilian Public Security Forum.

“If Bolsonaro loses, there is a real possibility that these more radical supporters may use their guns to express their frustration, as they’re being incited not to accept the result.”

World News

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2022-10-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-02T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281921661930161

Daily Telegraph