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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Brazil Woman Turns in Nearly 1,300 Guns |
| 2004-07-24 |
| A woman has turned in nearly 1,300 guns to federal police, responding to a government campaign for citizens to surrender privately held weapons. The woman had kept the guns at home since her father, an arms collector, died eight years ago, federal policeman Wagner Castilho said Saturday. Police did not identify the woman, who is expected to receive up to $65,000 for her arsenal turned in Friday. The government is paying Brazilians to surrender their weapons in an effort to reduce the country's murder rate, one of the world's highest. According to UNESCO, Brazil has 27.1 homicides per 100,000 people -- the fourth-highest in the world. Sixty-eight percent of those killings are committed with firearms. The government pays up to $98 for each weapon turned in, depending on the gun's caliber and age. In Sao Paulo state alone, police have collected more than 3,000 weapons since the program began on July 15, Castilho said. In Rio de Janeiro state, more than 1,100 firearms have been turned in. But most are old, and some even date back to World War II, police said. The total for Brazil was not immediately available. But the Rio newspaper O Globo put the number at more than 10,000. The government hopes to take 80,000 guns from the streets by Dec. 23, when a tough new gun law takes effect. The new law prohibits the possession of firearms in public and raises the minimum age for gun ownership from 18 to 25. It also requires owners to register their guns with the ministries of defense and justice. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |