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?"

The gun ban proposal received broad support in the press, while celebrities were generally in favor of it, only Brazil's anti-ban social groups and right-wing press, most importantly Veja the Brazilian news magazine (indeed weekly publication of any kind) with the largest paid circulation in the country.

This argument was strongly reinforced by the fact that the regions where gun ownership is widespread were the ones with the smallest number of gun-related deaths.

[6] The anti-gun lobby received vast support and free coverage from the press, including Rede Globo, Brazil's largest TV network despite its parent company fairly neutral stance which eventually was reflected.

The IANSA member groups Instituto Sou da Paz and Viva Rio[7] campaigned for a complete ban on civilian gun sales in Brazil, in support of the referendum.

"[6] Although the federal government, the Catholic Church, and the United Nations argued in favor of the proposal,[9] the result was a victory for those against the ban, with over 63% of the voters opposed.