10/21/2005

BBC coverage of Brazil vote to ban guns

Here are rough translations of a couple of interviews that I did this week with the BBC on Brazil's gun ban referendum.

1)
The economist John Lott Jr, author of some books defending the use of weapons for the civil population, finds that, if the sunday countersignature to approve the prohibition of venda of weapons and the ammunition in Brazil, the situation goes to move little.
"In the practical one already a virtual prohibition exists, because it is very difficult to obtain authorization to have a weapon. I do not find that it goes to make a great difference ", affirms, remembering that only 3.5% of the population have firearms. . . .

Lott says that, beyond the biggest policing and of more rigid penalties, the possibility of the proper person if to also protect helps withholds the crime.

"When you proĆ­be set, it is basically taking off the weapons of the people who are inside of the law and not of the criminals. Instead of increasing the security, he is increasing the crime, because the criminals do not need to be worried very when they go to attack the people ", says it.


2)
The economist John Lott Jr, book author defending the armament as self-defense against the crime, has different opinion.

He agrees that the increase of the investments in the policy and the increase of the size of the sentences contributed for the reduction in crime, but says that one of the factors is that some States had approved laws allowing that the citizens walked armed.


Thanks to Jason Morin for pointing me to a better translation program.