SOAP STARS JOIN 50,000 IN RAINY RIO TO DEMAND GUNS CRACKDOWN
By Jonathan Franklin

September 15, 2003 – (Guardian) Leading soap opera stars joined tens of thousands of Rio residents yesterday to demand more stringent gun controls in Brazil, one of the world's most violent countries.

About 50,000 protesters braved driving rain to march along Copacabana beach, waving banners reading "Brazil without guns" and calling on the government to pass a gun-control law before congress.

"I've lived here all my life and the violence has never been this bad. I think this kind of event shows a change in consciousness and I hope it translates into concrete action," said one marcher, Andre Davila, 25.

The protest had been heavily promoted in the soap opera Women in Love. For weeks, the show's characters have talked about the march and their presence guaranteed a large turnout despite the weather.

The popular soap opera, which threads together the stories of several women, has hit hard on the issue of gun violence in recent weeks. A scene where a character was killed by a stray bullet was front-page news last month, eclipsing many real killings.

The gun-control bill calls for a referendum on a ban on the sale of firearms to ordinary citizens. If the bill were to be passed, only police, soldiers and security guards could carry such weapons legally.

Recent polls show that about 63% of people support the measure. The bill has already passed in the senate, but heavy lobbying by Brazilian gun-makers has made its passage far from certain.

About 40,000 people are killed by gunfire every year in Brazil.

Due to huge amounts of cocaine trafficking in the favela slums throughout Rio, armed gangs have increasingly taken command of the city's power structure. When drug dealers give the order, entire swaths of Rio shut down.

The weaponry is akin to that found in war zones, with automatic weapons, tracer rounds and bazookas routinely used in the city. Due to the sheer number of bullets fired, innocent citizens are regularly struck by what are known as "lost bullets".

Rubem Cesar Fernandes, the executive coordinator for Viva Rio, which organises peace campaigns, has repeatedly called on the public to pressure congress to severely restrict the laws regulating private gun ownership in Brazil.

"The approval of this law would represent an unquestionable advance over the current arms controls laws.

"This will certainly permit the beginning of an efficient control of the illicit arms traffic and the overall proliferation of guns in the country," he told the newspaper O Globo.

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,12462,1042149,00.html