Brasília, May 11, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The National Association of Firearm Owners and Merchants (ANPCA) has filed a Direct Suit of Unconstitutionality, with a request for a court order to stay the enforcement of a 2003 law popularly referred to as the Disarmament Statute. The Association, according to information released by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), charges that the law determining the registration, possession, and sale of firearms and munitions "displays insurmountable illegalities and unconstitutionalities, obstructing the legal sale of firearms and, consequently, the right of self-defense, as well as violating human rights."

The Association argues that requiring prospective buyers to declare a real need to acquire a firearm is unwarranted. "What is being discussed is a right, the acquisition of a good. This violates all the individual guarantees included in Article 5 of the Federal Constitution." Furthermore, the fundamental principle of security and property is being trampled, "since the State is unable to guarantee security for everybody all the time."

In the suit, the ANPCA alleges that the new control imposed by the Statute on firearms that are received and sold is abusive and unnecessary, "placing burdens on merchants, making the legal sale of arms prohibitive, and thwarting the principle of legitimate defense." It also contends that new taxes were set for individuals and firms that want to acquire firearms.

Another item in the Statute that the Association considers unconstitutional has to do with the authorization for municipal guards to use firearms and the stipulation that prohibits military and civil police from carrying firearms when they are off-duty. It also maintains that barring people under 25 from acquiring firearms violates the Civil code: The correct age would be 18.

The Association also requests that a court order be issued suspending enforcement of the law, on the grounds that, by the time the merits of the case are judged, "the legal sale of arms will have gone bankrupt, producing even more unemployment, which is an injust wrong." Therefore, it maintains that enforcement of the law constitutes "a notorious harm, difficult to correct."

Translator: David Silberstein