Brazil’s Gun Outbreak

Postproduction script

Radio Télévision Suisse

00:00:05,200 VO: -In the south of Brazil, Florianopolis is in shock. These people have gathered to support Alessandra's family.

00:00:20,490 Maria-Clara: -My mother was killed because her partner did not accept breaking-up. At 22 years old, I had to bury my own mother.

00:00:29,131 VO: -Alessandra was shot at the exit of the nursery where she was working as an early childhood educator.

00:00:35,775 Crowd: -Justice!

00:00:37,480 VO: -Despite the complaint filed to the police, his killer still had his firearm.

00:00:46,048 Maria-Clara: -My mother's killer was psychologically unstable. He should never have had a firearm. These guns are too dangerous, they should be banned.

0’55 Maria-Clara Abdalla, Daughter of femicide victim

00:01:01,872 VO: -Gun murders jumped by 20%, with nearly 4,000 victims. The consequence of four years of pro-gun policies in Brazil. Four years under Jair Bolsonaro's rule.

1’20 Title: Brazil’s Gun Outbreak

00:01:24,724 VO: A gun fever has taken hold of Sao Paulo. Since 2019, once a day a new shooting club has opened, including in residential areas. One of the largest in the region is located in Atibaia. That morning, it hosts a shooting competition.

00:01:56,445 Announcer: -I declare this regional championship open.

00:02:06,043 VO: -In this very patriotic atmosphere, 1,100 competitors are preparing to compete. Among them, many families, like that of eight-year-old Beatrice. She is accompanied by her parents. She has to wait to be 14 years old to be able to shoot live ammunition.

00:02:31,250 Beatrice: -I shoot with pellets. I can't wait to grow up to try with real ammunition!

2’37 Beatrice Blanco, Shooting athlete

00:02:40,074 VO: -She is a little champion. She defends her title and her passion for weapons, She is not well regarded by her peers.

00:02:51,685 Beatrice: -My friends are all wrong about guns. Just because you have a gun doesn't mean you're a murderer.

00:02:59,418 VO: -Arm yourself to defend yourself is her mother's motto. For her, it is necessary to train children as soon as possible.

00:03:09,174 Anaiane: -She has been practicing since she was a child. I don't see the problem. Look at all the children who participate in these competitions. It's mostly for self-defense.

3’22 Anaiane Blanco, Beatrice’s mother

00:03:27,225 VO: -Under Bolsonaro, the regulations changed, allowing these families to buy what used to be prohibited weapons, like these assault rifles. It is now possible to own a whole arsenal, 60 firearms and 2,000 rounds of ammunition. Encouraged by her family, Beatrice gets second place. First is this boy performing a military salute that symbolizes this pro-gun, pro-Bolsonarist political thought. Beatrice's father feels vindicated.

00:04:05,311 Beatrice’s father: -Buying your gun at a kiosk is still a dream. But we hope that one day it will be like in Texas where you can get it from a bakery.

00:04:15,685 VO: -This new gun culture that has taken hold can be seen thoughout the country. The number of guns has increased from 350,000 to more than 2 million. On the outskirts of São Paulo, André and his family were victims.

00:04:33,033 André: -Hello Roberta, I'm coming up!

00:04:36,893 VO: -They are mourning the death of their little sister, Juliana, shot by her husband on December 31, 2021. She was a journalist, he an entrepreneur; they had just had a third child.

00:04:50,056 André’s sister: -It was unthinkable that this would happen. A part of me has died ever since.

00:04:56,302 André: -Look at my poor mother. She is out of her mind, nothing can cure her.

00:05:03,355 VO: -André has agreed to talk to us about Juliana's death. Her husband murdered her in front of their three children, after an argument that got out of hand.

00:05:14,946 André: -The doctor confirmed that Juliana would have survived the first shot. But he shot her a second time in the back of her head, which killed her. In a demonic rush, he put three bullets in her head.

5’35 André Alves, Brother of femicide victim

00:05:39,416 VO: -For the past year, Andre has been investigating the murderer, his brother-in-law Reges. He legally owned 7 pistols.

00:05:49,547 André: -Reges was seeing a psychologist to treat himself. He should have been banned from weapons, but he is rich. In Brazil, if you have money you can get anything you want. That's how he must have succeeded in corrupting the system.

00:06:06,834 VO: -Thousands of Brazilians are taking advantage of the regulation making access to weapons very easy. Women are the collateral victims and they have never been so poorly protected. In 2022, this country recorded a notorious figure: 4 women killed per day. In São Paulo, Commissioner Jamila Ferrari heads 130 police stations dedicated to the protection of women.

00:06:41,088 Jamila: -Yesterday, December 7th, there were two more femicides, one of them with a gun. There are more and more firearms involved in these crimes.

00:06:53,926 VO: -During his mandate, Jair Bolsonaro issued a series of 40 decrees to encourage individuals to arm themselves.

00:07:02,685 Jamila: -These decrees created a tsunami of firearms, that is pouring into our country. The surge of violence against women has been on the rise ever since.

7’08 Jamila Ferrari, Co-ordinator, police team dedicated to the protection of women, São Paulo

00:07:19,276 VO: -Even though the socialist Lula was elected on the promise to disarm the population, this will be difficult to achieve. In Congress, the pro-gunners have pulled off a coup de force: they got 23 members of Congress elected to defend their cause. Among them, the police commissioner Paulo Bilynskij. He is the spearhead of the very radical branch of Bolsonarism.

00:07:50,844 Paulo: -These femicides are due to a lack of masculinity in the family. If a husband is violent, her family must tell him to fuck off. It's the victim's father's fault, or her mother's fault. If the victim was abused, why didn't she leave? Why blame it on guns?

8’04 Paulo Bilynskij, Pro-gun member of government, São Paulo

00:08:12,360 VO: -This MP gained notoriety after a high-profile drama. In 2019, his ex-fiancée shot him and left him for dead. He was miraculously brought back to life at the hospital.

00:08:26,389 Paulo: -It wasn't a gun that tried to kill me, it was a person. The gun is the instrument she has chosen. I still use this gun.

00:08:39,325 VO: -Today, he's off to a rural community. He wants to train these policemen, who are subjected to gun violence.

00:08:51,385 Paulo: -You guys get out like cowboys out of your car? Come on, hands on your head! You will cover yourself at the back of the vehicle. Then you go ahead, you shoot, you take cover!

00:09:08,335 VO: -In Brazil, the majority of firearms come from the underground market. It is estimated that there are nearly 8 million of them. These poorly trained police officers have to deal with it. To match the bandits' assault rifles...

00:09:24,707 Paulo: -Take cover!

00:09:26,786 VO: …They only have a poor quality 9mm gun.

00:09:33,087 Paulo: -And then he crashes. It doesn't advertise our shitty weapons.

00:09:39,543 VO: -The director of this police unit deplores the lack of means of his teams. He counts on the public to help them fight crime.

00:09:51,819 Mauro: -The thug always manages to arm himself. He has access to both legal and illegal guns. But when righteous citizens buy a gun, they can learn how to use it and they can help us to fight crime. The more people are armed, the better for us.

10’08 Mauro Junior, Director of Public Security, Capivari

00:10:13,570 VO: -The priority of this member of parliament is to get a law passed. That which will perpetuate Jair Bolsonaro's pro-firearm decrees and promote self-defence.

00:10:25,897 Paulo: -You, the journalist, if you tell me you want to defend yourself, I say to you: "Take this gun." You don't even weigh 50kg! You don't stand a chance against a man who wants to hurt you. The only chance a woman has, is to be armed.

00:10:47,330 VO: -Are weapons the miracle solution to security problems? Not to everyone, at least those who had to go through tragedies. Since the death of his sister, André comes every week to this garden in São Paulo.

00:11:04,975 André: -What happened to my sister should serve as an example. When a gun lands in the hand of a nervous or unprepared person, it can go sour and end in tragedy. I was convinced that we should be armed to protect ourselves from violence. I've changed my mind.

11’16 André Alves, Brother of femicide victim

00:11:22,699 VO: -Jair Bolsonaro has opened a firearms race in Brazil. Despite the political change, it's hard to imagine a reversal, while the institutions and society remain divided.

11’41 Credits:

Sarah Bazin
Paul Cabanis
Gabriella Ackermann
Pierre Bader