The Federal Police (PF) sent an opinion to the Ministry of Justice to increase the number of weapons restricted to police officers in Brazil.
- Currently, the limit is two personal defense weapons – those not used at work.
- With the new proposal, sent last week, police officers would now have authorization for four weapons, two of which are for restricted use.
Restricted-use weapons are those that can be used by some security institutions, the Armed Forces, and by people and entities authorized and qualified by the Army. Some examples are .
The measure must include agents from the Federal Police, the Federal Highway Police, the Criminal Police — federal and state — and the civil police of the states and the Federal District.
States
The ordinance is similar to the one already in force for state military police, fire departments and the Institutional Security Office (GSI).
Of the two weapons for restricted use, the police officer may have a long one, for example: 12, rifle, semi-automatic or carbine. If the officer already has a long gun, he cannot have another.
Weapon calibers vary according to the police officer and the weapon used, following the authorization table, regardless of the weapons used in the service.
Ministry analysis
Within the ministry, the PF ordinance undergoes an evaluation at the department’s Legal Advisory Department.
It is then sent to the National Public Security Secretariat (Senasp), commanded by Mário Sarrubbo. If the project is accepted, it returns to the Federal Police for publication and thus comes into force.
Since the last weapons decree, which reduced the limit on personal weapons for police officers, public security classes have started to pressure the government to return to the previous project.
Security agents interviewed by the report evaluate the change as positive – if it is put into practice, but there is no consensus on the topic.
