[b]Gunmen in Brazil Attack City Hall[/b]

The Associated Press
Monday, June 24, 2002; 4:05 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil –– Gunmen with assault rifles and machine guns opened fire on city hall in Rio de Janeiro Monday, an attack the mayor said was a response to a government crackdown on organized crime. No one was hurt.

"When organized crime is allowed to grow, it reaches the level of terrorism," Mayor Cesar Maia told reporters. "This was an act of terror."

There were no injuries, but the hail of more than 100 rounds of bullets left windows on the 15-story building shattered and furniture inside destroyed.

According to police, the gunmen drove up to city hall in three cars and started pumping bullets into the building. Officers found two unexploded hand grenades that had been tossed onto the premises and detonated them.

The mayor said he would ask the federal government to declare a "state of defense in Rio de Janeiro," which would suspend for up to 30 days several constitutional rights like the right to assembly and the right to mail and telephone privacy.

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said "strong measures" would be taken against the attackers and that he would meet with city officials to discuss the possibility of putting a state of defense into affect. Such a decree would have to be approved by Congress.

Benedita da Silva, governor of Rio de Janeiro state, said the attack was a "clear attempt to destabilize and intimidate democratic institutions."

The attack came as the government is working to crack down on organized crime and its growing power in Rio de Janeiro and other cities like Sao Paulo.

Last week, prosecutors said that one of Brazil's most notorious drug lords tried to purchase a stinger missile from his cell in a maximum security prison.

Prosecutors released tapes of conversations held over a clandestine switchboard, where Luiz Fernando da Costa, nicknamed Fernandinho Beira-Mar or "Seaside Freddy" in Portuguese, and other convicted drug traffickers can be heard trying to buy a stinger missile.

Da Costa, once Brazil's biggest drug trafficker, was captured last spring in the jungles of Colombia, where he allegedly supplied Colombian rebels with weapons in return for cocaine that he sold in Brazil.

Gee, and some people think we have it bad here..

Anyone know what Brazil's gun laws are like?

[url]http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/08/10/p7s1.htm[/url]


[url]http://www.concentric.net/~rweller/news385.htm[/url]


[url]http://www.freep.com/news/nw/qguns30.htm[/url]


This should give you an idea, found a site that would've been what you wanted but I guess it doesn't exist no more...the second link offers a Brazilians take on it.

Yep that is what I thought, just wanted to be sure before I said something.