A pro-gun rally gathered hundreds of protesters that marched in Brasilia’s streets on Saturday

A pro-gun rally that happened to have coincided with International Gun Destruction Day, gathered hundreds of protesters that marched in Brasilia’s streets on Saturday. The rally called for an extension of the loosened gun regulations enacted by Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.

The protest was organized by Proarms, an organization that considers itself one of the largest gun advocacy groups across Latin America. Proarms called on people across the nation to join them in the march "for freedom" to the National Congress. This plea was echoed by Legislator Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the current President who will be facing reelection this fall.

Palavras duras, mas expressam a revolta por cumprir de uma lei aprovada por Lula e mensaleiros que em nada reduziu os crimes, porém ainda assim somos tratados como bandidos por certas autoridades e grupos
Parabéns @PROARMASBrasil e @PollonMarcos
Completohttps://t.co/zoPxlWKVAz pic.twitter.com/fuX3oH35T4
— Eduardo Bolsonaro🇧🇷 (@BolsonaroSP) July 10, 2022

"The left never imagined that so many people would take to the streets to say: yes, I want to be armed because I prefer a thug buried underground than having my wife raped," adding that "A criminal only respects what he fears and everyone is afraid of being shot... If we are armed, they will think twice," Bolsonaro told the hundreds of people marching in Basilia.

President Bolsonaro has enacted laws since taking office in 2019 that make it simpler for Brazilians to get firearms and that increase the number of weapons and ammunition that each individual is permitted to own.

An armed people "will never be enslaved," the far-right leader, who is now behind former leftist president Lula da Silva in surveys, has urged people to arm themselves.

According to statistics from the Army and Federal Police and data recently disclosed by the NGO Brazilian Forum for Public Security (FBSP), the number of Brazilians registered to carry weapons climbed nearly five times between 2018 and 2022.

There were 117,467 persons registered as hunters, sport shooters, and collectors at the time Bolsonaro was elected in 2018. In June 2022, that number increased to 673,818.

In Brazil, there are about 4.4 million private firearms owners.

The pro-gun march in Brazil comes amid a global discussion on gun regulation following several mass shootings in the US and the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, who was apparently killed with a homemade weapon.