John Lott Interview at the Council on Foreign Relations

John Lott is the interviewee answering questions regarding Brazil's upcoming gun ban:

Q: You've written that increased gun ownership can lower crime rates. With that in mind, how effective do you think a ban on guns in Brazil would be?

A: Prior to 2004, you only had about 3.5 percent of Brazilians legally owning guns because they had a registration-licensing system down there. They've had that since 1940. The type of people who are able to get guns now tend to be a relatively small and wealthy portion of the population - just to be able to pay the fees and go through the process. So you virtually banned gun ownership anyway - legal gun ownership in Brazil - so you're going to go from banning it for 96.5 percent [of the population] to around 99 percent. I don't imagine you're going to see huge impacts on things like the crime rate.

And in an apparently unrelated incident:

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Police found the bullet-riddled body on Thursday of a key suspect in Brazil's biggest bank robbery, in which $72 million was stolen after thieves tunneled their way in.

Luiz Fernando Salles, 26, was kidnapped next to a bar in Brazil's financial capital of Sao Paulo last Friday night by assailants claiming to be federal police agents. Police said it seemed to be the work of bandits.

No word yet on whether the Brazilian government will also seek to ban tunneling equipment. I think while they're at it, they should outlaw bank robbery and murder.

Oh, wait...