[matwood]

That video is pretty bad. One, it looks like the same kids over and over so the cops clearly do not care. Two, I was wondering what the gun laws were there until some guy chased them with a hand gun. If someone is looking to go have some fun fighting it seems like walking around with a cardboard iPhone might be the ticket. I'm only sort of kidding. I know if some kid grabbed my wife while we were walking down the street there would be a fight.

The only other place I have seen it like the above is the gypsy kids in Rome. Even then though they were more slight of hand pick pockets than the blatant assault in the video.

[HillaryBriss]

>... what the gun laws were ...

Almost 60,000 people were murdered in Brazil in 2014, most with guns. While some Latin American countries have higher per capita murder rates, in absolute numbers, Brazil is the deadliest place in the world outside Syria.

Brazilians are far more likely to be shot to death than Americans, a more populous country where there are about 8,000 to 9,000 gun homicides each year.

...

Right now, Brazil actually has tough gun laws.

More here: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/03/28/472157969/b...

[neves]

A lot of them are killed buy the police. Your chance of being killed in a high income area is really low.

[15155]

They should just add some more laws, that will clearly solve the problem!

[HillaryBriss]

Pass new important law

Hold press conference about it and pat self on back

Fail to enforce the law uniformly -- or at all

Shield politically-favored violators of law

Get re-elected because you're tough on crime

Society remains unchanged

[15155]

"Law abiding citizens are disarmed, crime increases"

[blowski]

My colleague had his phone stolen as he was talking on it by two guys on a moped - that was in Bond Street, London.

[toyg]

Lol indeed. I witnessed a lady with huge shopping bags in Bloomsbury getting her iPhone stolen from a bicycle. The guy acted like it was the most normal thing in the world, just snatched the phone while speeding down a cycle lane. Tons of other cyclists around, going as fast as this guy, and nobody cared.

[matwood]

I did not mean to imply it could not happen anywhere. Only that this was exceptionally bad, and Rome was the only other place I had seen with the swarms of kids blatantly stealing.

[GFischer]

A few years ago, a coworker was talking on a Motorola Razr when a thief tried to steal it at a run... he ran with the top half and left my coworker with the lower half :P

I've had a phone pickpocketed from me too.

[andersonvieira]

In Brazil, if you are under 18 and get caught for theft, robbery, or even armed robbery, you will probably be out of jail by the next day.

I guess many officers think arresting someone underage is not worth the trouble, unless it is some life threatening situation.