Sao Paulo, Brazil - Jan 16, 2019 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of Nelson Oliveira Junior, president of Centaurus Shooting Club, loading gun
2. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Nelson Oliveira Junior, president, Centaurus Shooting Club (partially overlaid with shot 3):
"What a lot of people want is a firearms license. A lot of people also didn't know that they were allowed to buy weapons, and with all this glamor around this decree, today everybody knows that they can get a gun. I think it will reduce, by a lot, the criminality."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
3. CGTN reporter
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
4. Various of Oliveira teaching reporter how to shoot
5. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Nathalia Pollachi, anti-gun advocate, Instituto Sou da Paz (ending with shot 6):
"We see this measure as having potential for a very negative impact. All scientific researches, not only in Brazil but abroad, show that having more guns does increase the rate of armed violence, you can see that, for example, comparing the United states and other high income countries."
6. Reporter talking to crime and violence researcher Bruno Paes Manso
7. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Bruno Paes Manso, researcher, Center for Study of Violence, University of Sao Paulo (partially overlaid with shot 8):
"The discussion is relevant, you could justify the right of people to self-defense, but what most concerns me is the unfolding of this ideology of war and conflict, instead of an idea about living in a democracy."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
8. CGTN reporter
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
9. Various of Oliveira shooting, checking shooting average

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday signed a decree that will temporarily make it easier for Brazilians to buy guns, despite fears that the move could aggravate already staggering violent crimes.

Tuesday's decree makes it much easier for adults with no criminal record to buy guns and keep them at home. It does not extend to carrying weapons -- concealed or otherwise -- in public, which remains restricted to police, public or private security personnel, and the military.

Buyers must be at least 25 years old, take a course at a gun club, undergo a psychological exam and not have a criminal record.

People can own four guns, instead of the previous limit to two and do not have to renew the permit for 10 years.

Gun owners do have to have a safe with a key if there are children, adolescents or a person with a mental disability in the home.

Nelson Oliveira Junior is the president of Centaurus Shooting Club in Sao Paulo and an enthusiastic advocate for less restrictive gun laws in Brazil. He has been in the gun business for three decades and believes the decree helps reduce criminality.

"What a lot of people want is a firearms license. A lot of people also didn't know that they were allowed to buy weapons, and with all this glamor around this decree, today everybody knows that they can get a gun. I think it will reduce, by a lot, the criminality," said Nelson Oliveira Junior.

But opponents said arming society will only lead to more violence and that many of the new weapons sold legally will ultimately end up in the hands of criminals.

"We see this measure as having potential for a very negative impact. All scientific researches, not only in Brazil but abroad, show that having more guns does increase the rate of armed violence, you can see that, for example, comparing the United states and other high income countries," said Nathalia Pollachi, anti-gun advocate with Instituto Sou da Paz, a non-governmental organization that has worked for over 15 years to reduce levels of violence in Brazil.

A crime and violence researcher at Sao Paulo University acknowledges it's hard to assess the decree's short term impact on crime, but fears the long-term repercussions of a growing gun culture.

"The discussion is relevant, you could justify the right of people to self-defense, but what most concerns me is the unfolding of this ideology of war and conflict, instead of an idea about living in a democracy," said Bruno Paes Manso, researcher of the Center for the Study of Violence at the University of Sao Paulo.

Bolsonaro, a 63-year-old former army captain and longtime lawmaker, took office two weeks ago after being elected in October on promises to crack down on crime and corruption.

The president's decree is technically temporary pending ratification by Brazil's Congress. But with the solid support of new conservative members, that should happen quickly. And Bolsonaro said he expects legislators to propose even more gun-friendly measures in the months ahead.

Brazil recorded nearly 64,000 homicides in 2017, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world outside of a war zone.