(本文选自《经济学人》20210417期)
背景介绍：
自2019年正式就任总统以来，雅伊尔·博索纳罗逐步兑现他在2018年总统竞选中所做出的承诺，即让更多巴西人能够拥有自卫武器。他曾于上任15天后就签署一项临时政令，放宽对巴西公民持有枪支的限制条件。如今，越来越多的巴西人得以合法持枪。
Jair Bolsonaro wants every Brazilian to have a gun
Especially, it seems, his supporters
“I always had the American dream,” says Bernardo Mattos, sitting outside his shooting club in Rio de Janeiro. “Thank God, I fulfilled that dream.” Since he launched his club in 2018 membership has risen steadily—particularly so during the past year of pandemic.
贝尔纳多·马托斯坐在他位于里约热内卢的射击俱乐部外面说道：“我一直有个美国梦，感谢上帝，现在终于实现了。”自2008年该俱乐部成立以来，会员人数一直在稳步增长——尤其是在去年新冠肺炎疫情爆发之际。
Now around 350 people come through his doors to
rattle off
rounds. Mr Mattos, who says he was trained by the United States armed forces, broadcasts his views to even more. He has nearly 90,000 followers on social media.
目前，他的俱乐部拥有会员约350人，他们在靶场上轰隆隆地练习着射击。马托斯表示，他接受过美国武装部队的训练，他正在向更多人传递他的观点。他在社交媒体上拥有近9万名粉丝。
He encourages whole families to shoot together; 14-year-olds are allowed to do so if accompanied by an instructor. “I succeeded in bringing the gun ideology I saw in the United States to Brazil,” he beams.
他鼓励全民参与射击练习；14岁的孩子也可以在教练的陪同下练习射击。他笑着说道：“我成功地把我在美国看到的枪支意识形态带到了巴西。”
Brazil’s relationship with guns goes back a long way. In the 1970s gun ownership was
commonplace
in the countryside, where most people lived, recalls Ivan Marques, a lawyer and the chairman of Control Arms, an NGO. By the 1980s guns were
ubiquitous
and rules for buying them were lax.
枪支在巴西有着悠久的历史。非政府组织“控制武器”主席、律师伊万·马奎斯回忆称，20世纪70年代，在大多数人居住的农村地区，枪支几乎无处不在，枪支交易的规定也很宽松。
Even supermarkets sold them. But a rise in shootings triggered stricter laws. In 2003 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a left-wing president, signed one that prevented ordinary citizens from buying guns—only those in the armed forces, police and prison guards could do so.
人们甚至能在超市买到枪。但随着枪击事件的增多，巴西推出了更严格的法律。2003年，左翼总统路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦签署了一项禁止普通公民购买枪支的法案——法案规定，只有军队、警察和狱警才能购买枪支。
It also raised the minimum age and required a background check. Although this helped temper the rise in gun deaths for a while, Brazil remained a violent place, with many illegal firearms. With 22 killings per 100,000 people each year, it has one of the world’s highest rates of gun deaths.
该法案还提高了最低持枪年龄，并要求对购枪者进行背景调查。虽然该法案在一段时期内有助于缓解枪击致死人数的上升，但巴西仍然是一个充满暴力的地方，仍有许多人非法持枪。巴西是全球枪击致死率最高的国家之一，平均每年每10万人中就有22人死于枪击。
In contrast to his predecessors Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain elected as president in 2018, wants more people to own firearms. As president, Mr Bolsonaro has tried to approve 31 legal changes that would make guns easier to get hold of.
与前任总统相比，2018年当选总统的前陆军上尉雅伊尔·博尔索纳罗则希望更多人拥有枪支。作为总统，博尔索纳罗试图批准31项法律修订，从而使人们更容易获得枪支。
The number of registered firearms in circulation has surged by 66% since 2017, to just over a million, or one for every 200 Brazilians. This is far short of the standard set by the United States, which has more guns than people.
自2017年以来，巴西登记在册的流通枪支数量激增66%，达100多万支，即每200个巴西人中就有1人拥有枪支。这一数量远低于美国设定的标准，美国人拥有的枪支比美国人口还要多。
But still, between 2017 and 2019 the number held by Brazilian hunters, sporting shooters and collectors increased by a
whopping
120% (this group registered 271,000 new firearms in 2020). And unlike the United States, Brazil is a country where few animals can be shot legally, points out Mr Marques.
然而，在2017年至2019年期间，巴西猎人、射击运动员和收藏家持有枪支数量增长了120%（这些人在2020年注册了27.1万支新枪）。马奎斯指出，不同于美国的是，在巴西，很少有动物可以被合法猎杀。
At the moment only wild boars are fair game, as they are not an indigenous species. Brazilians can also now own different kinds of guns, and the amount of ammunition they can own has gone up (though the Supreme Court is querying these changes, too).
目前在巴西只有野猪是可以合法猎杀的，因为它们不是本地物种。巴西人现在还可以持有不同种类的枪支，而且他们可持有弹药数量也在增加（虽然巴西最高法院对此表示质疑）。
Mr Bolsonaro’s pro-gun stance is mostly political. Loosening gun laws is cheap and simple. Perhaps that is why, unlike the promises he made during his campaign to improve schools and health care, Mr Bolsonaro has been able to keep his word on guns.
博尔索纳罗对枪支的支持主要出于政治立场。放松枪支管控即成本低廉又简单易行。或许这就是博尔索纳罗能够在枪支问题上信守承诺的原因，而不像他在竞选总统期间对改善学校和医疗保健所做出的承诺。
Also, talking about pistols touches on the “identity of his core supporters”, says Rodrigo Soares, an academic. Many may have started to question Mr Bolsonaro’s handling of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 350,000 Brazilians and caused the economy to contract by 4%. His approval ratings have fallen to below 30%.
此外，学者罗德里戈·苏亚雷斯表示，管控枪支触及了“其核心支持者的利益”。许多人可能已经开始质疑博尔索纳罗处理新冠肺炎疫情的方式。新冠病毒已经导致超过35万巴西人死亡，并导致巴西的经济萎缩4%。博尔索纳罗的支持率已经下跌至30%以下。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
自雅伊尔·博索纳罗上任总统以来，巴西不断地放宽了枪支管控，使得巴西枪支泛滥的问题进一步加重。近日，巴西民调机构发布的一项调查结果显示，61%的受访者认为应该禁止持有枪支。该国专家称，枪支供应数量每增加1%，谋杀率就将上升2%，滥用枪支恐使该国目前已经相当严峻的社会治安进一步恶化。
重难点词汇：
rattle off
飞快说出
