Brazilian President Bolsonaro tells his supporters to buy a rifle

Armed people will never be enslaved, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is trailing in polls for the 2022 election, told a crowd of his supporters in the capital Brasilia, urging everyone to get a rifle as soon as possible.

Bolsonaro’s ratings have crumbled according to a recent poll by XP/Ipespe revealed that only 24% of those surveyed plan to vote for the 66-year-old when he runs for re-election next year, while his leftist opponent, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, received the support of some 40%.

The rightist president has already threatened to not accept the outcome of the 2022 election, claiming it could be rigged against him due to the alleged vulnerabilities of the country’s purely electronic voting system.

He’s now facing an investigation over those statements, which were never backed by any convincing proof. One group of Brazilians who have been increasingly happy with Bolsonaro since he took office in 2019 are gun enthusiasts, whom he once again addressed on Friday.

During his campaign for office, Bolsonaro vowed to relax Brazil’s gun laws so that citizens could protect themselves from the country’s rampant crime and violence. And he kept that promise, issuing almost a dozen decrees that made firearms, including assault rifles.

The president’s latest initiative in February allowed Brazilian citizens to own up to six guns and stripped back federal police and army oversight of firearms ownership.

Those with hunting licenses are now free to buy 30 guns, while sports shooters can have as many as 60. It looks like he is ready to organize a rebellion, if the elections run sour.

According to data obtained from law enforcement by O Globo newspaper, the number of firearms in private ownership in the country has increased from around 700,000 to over 1.2 million since 2018.

RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2021.