Could Jair Bolsonaro Bring the Second Amendment to Brazil?

By ricardo cohen – rcview @ Shutterstock.com

Brazilians have had enough of armed criminals. Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is promising Brazilians the chance to defend themselves. He’s been called the Brazilian Trump, but Bolsonaro appears to be much more of an ideologue than America’s president. Bloomberg reports:

In the world’s most murderous country, gun control is starting to lose its appeal.

Desperate Brazilians are wondering whether they’d be better off armed, given that around 60,000 of their compatriots are killed each year. Polls show support for gun ownership gaining ground.

One of the candidates leading the field for October’s 2018 presidential election — hardline conservative Jair Bolsonaro — has promised to allow law-abiding citizens to arm themselves.

Forty-two percent of Brazilians believe gun ownership is a citizen’s right, according to a November survey by pollster Datafolha. That’s up from 30 percent four years earlier.

Bolsonaro, a former Army captain, has been preaching the gospel of gun rights as part of his law-and-order pitch to voters. In polls he trails only former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will likely be barred from running.