BRASILIA - The U.S., currently discussing restrictions on the sale of firearms, purchased 7.9 million guns from Brazil in the past 40 years, and 59% of those were exported during the Lula administration (2003-2010). That is the result of a new study by the Army Command to which Folha had access through the Access to Information Act, with a detailed record of the sellers and buyers of 9.9 million revolvers, pistols, rifles and shotguns, among other weapons, exported... (GunPolicy.org)

A man walks into an elementary school with two handguns. Within minutes, more than thirty children are dead or wounded. This isn't Newtown, Connecticut, but Realengo, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On April 7th, 2011, Wellington Oliveira murdered twelve children and wounded twenty others. The tragedy sparked a national conversation on gun violence, a huge problem in Brazil. On Wednesday, in reaction to a different massacre, President Obama proposed a series... (GunPolicy.org)

SANTIAGO — It is interesting to have a look at firearms legislation in South America, where street gangs and violence is commonplace. According to a study done at Universidad de Chile, the number of incidents of handgun use is higher in regions with low levels of education, high poverty and unemployment, and a younger population. It is not surprising that the most vulnerable zones in this matter are Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. In Brazil, the minimum age required... (GunPolicy.org)

Uruguay is investigating 20 police officers for the disappearance of some 200 firearms over the past two years, as evidence suggests the officers may have been involved in an arms trafficking ring that sold weapons to Brazilian criminal organizations. The officers, including a former police chief, are suspected of involvement in the disappearance of more than 200 firearms from police headquarters in Treinta y Tres, an eastern province that shares a maritime border with... (GunPolicy.org)

An Ecuadoran man who helped smuggle 46 boxes of gun parts from Minneapolis to Paraguay was sentenced Monday in St. Paul to two years in federal prison and faces almost certain deportation upon his release. Fabian Lojano-Lojano, speaking through an interpreter, apologized for his actions and told U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle that he didn't know what he was doing when he shipped AK-47 gun parts to Paraguay without obtaining a proper license. "I made the mistake and... (GunPolicy.org)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Latin America's increasingly ambitious Mercosur regional bloc is aiming to focus on small arms suppliers who are seen as being behind the region's endemic and seemingly insurmountable problem of violent crime. The area's disparate armed groups, guerrillas with political agenda and drug-related gangs have drawn attention from Mercosur's watchdog committees as senior officials explore ways of containing organized crime, rooting out myriad networks... (GunPolicy.org)

Brazil has more gun deaths than any other country in the world, and so the phenomenon of arms trafficking is a major concern. Almost 20 percent of guns seized in the country are foreign produced, while those that cannot legally be sold in the country are legitimately produced in Brazil and then exported, before being smuggled back in, according to a study on arms trafficking by NGO Viva Rio, in collaboration with Brazil's Justice Department. According to a recent... (GunPolicy.org)

PRETORIA — Paraguay's players are dedicating their success at the World Cup to Salvador Cabanas, the team's striker who is back home recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. "What we are achieving is for him," said forward Cristian Riveros after a penalty kicks shootout victory over Japan pushed Paraguay into its first World Cup quarterfinal. "We called him from our room last week, and we'll continue to do so." Cabanas was attacked on Jan. 25 in Mexico, and a... (GunPolicy.org)

[Translated summary: Nine .30 machine guns diverted from the Bolivian armed forces have been apprehended in Rio's favelas this year alone, after being transported through Paraguay]. RIO — A novidade agora entre os traficantes dos morros e favelas do Rio é uma metralhadora calibre .30 (7,92 x 57mm), modelo Lehky Kulomet ZB, fabricada na antiga República da Tchecoslováquia, com capacidade de tiro capaz de derrubar até um helicóptero. Arma de guerra de uso restrito... (GunPolicy.org)

The involvement of high-ranking Paraguayan military officers in the clandestine supply of arms to criminal gangs in Brazil appears to have been confirmed with the arrest of a colonel and a major in a case involving the theft of army munitions and their sale on the black market in Ciudad del Este, in the notorious Triple Border area. On 24 December an audit of the arsenal of the 3rd infantry division just outside Ciudad del Este revealed that more than 50,000 rounds of... (GunPolicy.org)

SAN SALVADOR — At least 90 people were killed in Latin America in road, fireworks and other accidents during New Year's celebrations. The highest death toll was registered in El Salvador, where some 33 people were killed and another 89 injured during celebrations marking the start of 2006, officials said. Carlos Alvarado, a spokesman for the country's civil defence system, said that many of those killed and wounded from late Saturday to early Sunday were victims of... (GunPolicy.org)

GINEBRA — Con una población conjunta de 464 millones de habitantes, 11 países — Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, México, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela —, poseen hasta 80 millones de armas de fuego, según revelan los resultados de la Encuesta de armas pequeñas 2004: derechos en riesgo, realizada por el Instituto de Posgrado de Altos Estudios Internacionales, dados a conocer en Ginebra la semana pasada. Exceptuando a Ecuador, todos... (GunPolicy.org)