Do we need "more of the same"?

Easing gun ownership laws in the country is to insist on, and radicalize, a failed model. One of the most used arguments by proponents of the measure is precisely the fact that the State is not present. Why then don't we change this model and start investing in what would truly improve security conditions?

Brazil needs investment in intelligence, in exchange for information. For example, there is no common database for all police forces, which makes each operation more difficult and bureaucratic. In addition to integrated communication, it is essential to have a complete cycle (with autonomy for any police agency to initiate and conclude the handling of a police incident) and what I call the "deprivatization" of public security.

Society urgently needs to participate in this debate. Unfortunately, a large part of the group addressing this issue in the National Congress is divided in its defense of different corporations, which prevents a more comprehensive view and ultimately compromises the maintenance of the status quo.

We need to democratize this debate as much as possible, invest in the necessary technology, and plan how to address homicides. Several proposals in this regard were presented at the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into combating homicides of young black and poor people, which I was able to create and chair. There is a whole legislative agenda with projects to change the entire public security model waiting to be considered by the National Congress, which is still betting on "more of the same," or even "much more of the same."

The proposal for public safety cannot be to arm you. Citizens cannot, and are not able to, be responsible for their own safety, which is a duty of the State, which has no right to be negligent. Security is a public matter. It would be pointless for each individual to try to find their own safety, because we would all be more at risk than safe. A series of studies attest to this. A survey conducted by Stanford University School of Medicine, for example, shows that in the United States, twice as many children die in states considered "pro-gun".

According to Datafolha, 61% of Brazilians oppose making it easier to own a gun, a survey conducted between December 18 and 19, 2018. Among Jair Bolsonaro's voters, the rate is 55%, according to a survey conducted by the same institute between October 24 and 25.

Public safety in Brazil has problems that can be solved, or swept under the rug, with a seemingly easy "solution" that could harm us even more.

Investing in radicalizing a failed model is pushing it to its limit, putting even more innocent people at risk, in addition to those who already die daily in the shootout that life has become in Brazilian capitals. We need to reverse the logic.