CCJ of the Chamber approves approval for States to legislate on weapons

The CCJ (Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee) of the Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday (April 24, 2024), by 34 votes in favor and 30 against, a complementary bill (PLP 108/2023) that authorizes the States and the Federal District to legislate on the possession and carrying of firearms for personal defense, sports and control of invasive exotic species.

Presented by the president of the CCJ, deputy Caroline de Toni (PL-SC), the proposal still depends on analysis by the Chamber Plenary. According to the text, the authorizations for possession or possession granted will only be valid locally and will only serve people who are proven to reside in the State.

Rapporteur’s assessment

The opinion of the rapporteur, Delegate Paulo Bilynskyj (PL-SP), was favorable to the project and the substitute of the Public Security and Combating Organized Crime Commission.

The commission included in the text a condition to allow States to legislate on the subject: the State must establish a weapons control system integrated with Sinesp (National Public Security Information System), maintained by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

“The Federal Constitution granted the Union the exclusive competence to legislate on criminal law, as well as on war material, but it appears that it is possible for the Union to delegate competence to the States to legislate on specific issues relating to these matters.”, assessed the rapporteur.

Bilynskyj also argues that, due to regional peculiarities in Brazil, each State must decide on access to firearms for personal defense and shooting sports. “There is nothing better for the State than fulfilling the will of its inhabitants, but the left wants to centralize the individual’s freedom of defense in a single, communist entity.“, he said.

Separate vote

Deputy Patrus Ananias (PT-MG) presented separate vote for the unconstitutionality of the proposal. According to the congressman, the Constitution allows the States and the Federal District to legislate on specific matters of war, but does not allow them to challenge federal legislation on firearms, the Disarmament Statute.

“States and DF can residually complement federal legislation, establishing procedures and standards for better application of legislation in their territories, without having a blank check to legislate differently and/or advance on matters that must comply with national legislation”, he stated.

According to Patrus, if the proposal is approved in Congress, the constitutionality of the text will be questioned in the STF (Supreme Federal Court). “We will enter, yes, of course, with due legal guidance to prevent a project like this, clearly contrary to life and at the service of violence”, he declared.

Discord

The proposal caused discord in the CCJ, leading more than 20 deputies to discuss the issue for almost 4 hours. Supporters of the text defended the right of citizens to carry firearms for personal defense, while critics argued that more firearms circulating in society increase violence instead of helping the population’s safety.

“The project simply gives the right to every responsible, law-abiding citizen to be armed to defend not only his life, that of his family, or his heritage, including against the dictatorships that are being implemented in this country.”, said deputy Éder Mauro (PL-PA).

Representative Dandara (PT-MG) spoke about the danger, for women, of more men being in possession of firearms: “43% of feminicide perpetrators were close to the victim and firearms caused more than 2,200 deaths of women in Brazil last year alone. 6 femicides per day were the result of firearms”.

Legal debate

Deputy Rubens Pereira Júnior (PT-MA) highlighted that the Constitution makes it clear that it is the Union’s exclusive competence to legislate on war material and that States can only legislate on specific issues related to equipment used by military police and military fire departments.

“What the constitutional norm is saying: that, if authorized by Congress, the State governor can decide what type of weapon he buys for the police, he can decide what type of military material he buys for the firefighters, it is not saying that each State can practice released him generally”, he stressed.

He added that the Chamber wastes time discussing the matter, as the STF has already deliberated on the topic by analyzing several Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality. Rubens Pereira Júnior cited ADI 5359, which ruled out the possibility of States and municipalities legislating on war material, since the Union has already legislated on the topic through the Disarmament Statute.

Representative Caroline de Toni, in turn, stated that she presented the proposal precisely because of the STF’s decisions in this type of action. According to her, the government of Santa Catarina prepared a project to authorize the hunting of wild boars in the State, since the animals destroy plantations, and the constitutionality of the text was questioned in the Supreme Court, which understood that there was a lack of a complementary law to delegate this competence to the States.

“The argument used by the left-wing deputy saying that direct actions of unconstitutionality will declare the complementary law unconstitutional is erroneous, because they recognize that there is a lack of a complementary law to delegate this competence”, said the author of the bill.

With information from Agência Câmara.