2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum

2005 Brazilian firearms and ammunition referendum

23 October 2005 (2005-10-23)
Should the commerce of firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?
Outcome	Brazil approves the commerce of firearms and ammunition. However, President Lula maintains the prohibition.
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 33,333,045 36.06% No 59,109,265 63.94% Valid votes 92,442,310 96.92% Invalid or blank votes 2,933,514 3.08% Total votes 95,375,824 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 122,042,615 78.15%
Results by state No   50–59%   60–69%   70–79%   80–89%

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On 23 October 2005, Brazil held a country-wide referendum on article 35 of the Disarmament Statute to determine whether to approve or disapprove the article, which states in full, "The sale of firearms and ammunition is prohibited in the entire national territory, except to those entities provided in article 6 of this Law." ("Art. 35. É proibida a comercialização de arma de fogo e munição em todo o território nacional, salvo para as entidades previstas no art. 6^o desta Lei."^[1]) The referendum failed by nearly two-thirds, and that part of the statute was not enacted.

The referendum and its date had been provided by the Disarmament Statute itself (art. 35, §1^o).^[1] During the drafting and development of the law, it had been decided that article 35 should be submitted to a referendum because of the importance of its subject. On 7 July 2005, the Federal Senate of Brazil promulgated legislative decree 780, which authorized the referendum. Article 2 of its decree stipulated that the public consultation should employ the following question: "Should commerce in firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?" ("O comércio de armas de fogo e munição deve ser proibido no Brasil?"^[2])