Everyone in Brazil should buy a rifle, the country’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has said. He also said on Friday that those who oppose guns should stop nagging gun buyers.
The president has already relaxed gun laws to allow more Brazilians to own firearms for self-defence, citing an increase in homicides.
Brazil had a 5 per cent increase in murders in 2020 compared to 2019, after two consecutive years of decline.
Mr Bolsonaro pledged to ease gun ownership rules during his election campaign and frequently suggested that Brazilians would be safer in their own homes if they owned a firearm despite surveys suggesting around two-thirds of Brazilians oppose liberalising gun laws.