The issue: Gun violence takes the lives of about 39,000 people in Brazil each year, more than any other country in the world. In comparison, there are about 30,000 gun-related deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though the U.S. population is about 100 million more than Brazil's. Only Venezuela has a higher per-capita gun-related death rate than Brazil, but it has a much smaller population.
The question: More than 100 million voters will be asked in Sunday's referendum: Should the sale of guns and ammunition be banned in Brazil? In a survey released Wednesday by Toledo & Associates, 52 percent of those questioned said they would vote against the ban, while 34 percent would support it.
Positions: "I think it's absurd. It's not a question of disarming the citizen. It's a question of national security," said Antonio Alves, 53, who owns the Lazarina Fiel sporting goods store and is president of the National Gun Owners and Gun Dealers Association. Alves said the number of gun shops nationwide has fallen from 1,500 to around 250 since a disarmament campaign in 2004.
The Health Ministry says gun-related deaths fell 8 percent in a year after the campaign. In Australia, where the right to bear guns became a "privilege" a decade ago, the number of deaths from firearms was cut in half over five years. Japan, which has a similar law, registers only about 30 gun-related killings a year -- fewer than an average weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city.
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