RIO DE JANEIRO — President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday signed a decree making it easier for many Brazilians to own firearms, the first of many expected changes by the nascent administration to overhaul gun laws in the nation that leads the world in total homicides.

Bolsonaro signed the decree in a televised ceremony in the capital of Brasilia, arguing that it and other changes expected to be pushed in Congress would help people defend themselves. The former army captain and far-right leader, who won last year’s election on promises to crack down on crime, said citizens in Latin America’s biggest country have long made clear that they wanted to arm themselves.

“The people decided in favor of buying guns and ammunition and we can’t deny what the people wanted at that moment,” Bolsonaro said, referring to a 2005 referendum in which Brazilians voted against banning the manufacturing and selling of guns.

The decree established a wide range of categories for gun ownership qualification, and government officials said it was crafted to cover just about any citizen wanting a firearm.

The categories include citizens living in rural areas, in urban areas with high levels of homicide, business owners, gun collectors and hunters. Prospective gun owners must still meet other requirements, such as not having a criminal record, taking a psychological exam, completing a course at a gun club and being at least 25.

Before the decree, the law stipulated that civilians who wanted to own a gun had to justify their interest. Bolsonaro and other proponents of relaxing legislation argued that such a requirement was arbitrary — such reviews happened with a federal police official — and meant that in practice many would-be owners were denied.

The decree also extended from five to 10 years the period to renew the registration of each firearm, and increased from two to four the number of guns each person can own.

In one area that could be interpreted as tightening the law, it required gun owners have a safe with a key in any home with children, adolescents or a person with a mental disability.

While the decree allows more people to buy weapons, it remains illegal for most civilians to carry them in public. Bolsonaro and the so-called “Bullet Caucus” in Congress plan a legislative push to overturn that.

Security experts have long argued that more guns will lead to increased violence.

“If the Brazilian government is sincere about improving public security and fighting organized crime, it will enforce existing gun laws rather than dismantling them,” said Igarape, a Brazilian think tank, in a statement. “Specifically, it should strengthen national data gathering on seized firearms to disrupt trafficking. It must improve oversight over the arms holdings of police and private security companies.”

For decades, Brazil has been the world leader in annual homicides. Last year, nearly 64,000 were killed, the majority by firearms.

Despite tight gun laws, arms are widely available. Drug traffickers in slums are commonly seen brandishing automatic weapons. Many guns possessed illegally begin as legal, and were then stolen from police or military personnel or sold by corrupt people in those institutions.

Several studies, both in the United States and Brazil, have found a correlation between increased guns and homicide and suicide rates. However, some social scientists, and gun proponents, argue such data is inconclusive.

Bolsonaro and others in his administration have argued that allowing more Brazilians to carry guns would help combat criminality, one of his key campaign promises.

“Any criminal in any part of the world fears an armed citizen,” said chief of staff Onyx Lorenzoni minutes after the decree was signed.

“England saw its home assaults increased by 40 percent since guns were banned there,” he added, without providing more details.

Polls have consistently shown most Brazilians want tighter restrictions on guns.

A Datafolha poll published at the end of last year found that 61 percent believed firearms should be prohibited and posed a threat to others. The poll interviewed 2,077 people Dec. 18-19 and a had a margin of error of 2 percent.

There were many signs Tuesday that fights over gun laws were just beginning. In an editorial titled “Reckless Decree,” the newspaper O Globo criticized the changes for not being paired with better mechanisms to track guns.

Many Bolsonaro supporters took to Twitter to laud the changes or argue, in angry language, that the decree didn’t go far enough.

Shares of gun manufacturer Taurus, which has enjoyed steady gains the last several months in anticipation of sweeping changes, closed 22 percent down. Many interpreted that as sign investors had expected Bolsonaro to go further, particularly in the number of guns each person can have. Proponents of loosened laws have long pushed for no limit.

Meanwhile, Sou da Paz Institute, a rights group dedicated to violence reduction, launched an online campaign with ads blasting the government for its central argument for the change: that guns put people in a better position to protect themselves.

“When you are sick, the government doesn’t ask you to buy a scalpel and operate on yourself,” said one of the ads. “If you’re suffering because of crime, why do you have to protect yourself?”

NAIROBI — The death toll from an extremist attack on a luxury hotel and shopping complex in Nairobi climbed to 21, plus the five militants killed, police said Wednesday in the aftermath of the brazen overnight siege by al-Shabab gunmen. Two people accused of facilitating the attack were arrested.

The number of those killed at the DusitD2 complex rose with the discovery of six more bodies at the scene and the death of a wounded police officer, said Joseph Boinnet, inspector-general of Kenyan police. Twenty-eight people were hurt and taken to the hospital, he said.

In a televised address to the nation earlier in the day, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the all-night operation by security forces to retake the complex was over and that all of the extremists had been killed.

“We will seek out every person that was involved in the funding, planning and execution of this heinous act,” he vowed.

In an attack that demonstrated al-Shabab’s continued ability to strike Kenya’s capital despite setbacks on the battlefield, extremists stormed the place with guns and explosives. Security camera footage released to local media showed a suicide bomber blowing himself up in a grassy area in the complex, the flash visible along with smoke billowing from the spot where he had been standing.

Of the civilian victims, 16 were Kenyan, one was British, one was American and three were of African descent but their nationalities were not yet identified, police said.

Al-Shabab, which is based in neighboring Somalia and allied with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility. The Islamic extremist group also carried out the 2013 attack at Nairobi’s nearby Westgate Mall that killed 67 people, and an assault on Kenya’s Garissa University in 2015 that claimed 147 lives, mostly students.

While U.S. airstrikes and African Union forces in Somalia have degraded the group’s ability to operate, it is still capable of carrying out spectacular acts of violence in retaliation for the Kenyan military’s campaign against it.

The bloodshed in Kenya’s capital appeared designed to inflict maximum damage to the country’s image of stability and its tourism industry, an important source of revenue.

The government said late Tuesday that buildings were secure. However, gunfire continued into Wednesday morning, and dozens of trapped people were rescued overnight. Several loud booms were heard Wednesday as teams sought to clear the complex of booby traps and other explosives.

Kenyatta’s announcement that the security operation was complete came about 20 hours after the first reports of the attack.

The Kenyan Red Cross said about 50 people were unaccounted for. But many of those were believed not to have been in the complex during the attack.

Ken Njoroge, CEO of a company in the DustiD2 complex that offers mobile banking services, said he was unable to locate several employees. “It’s very difficult for the families because the passage of time only makes the problem bigger,” he said.

The American killed in the attack was identified as Jason Spindler, co-founder and managing director of San Francisco-based I-DEV International. Spindler’s father, Joseph, said his son worked with international companies to form business partnerships in Kenya that would boost local economies.

The Houston-raised Spindler had a brush with tragedy on 9/11: He was employed by a financial firm at the World Trade Center at the time of the 2001 terrorist attack but was running late that morning and was emerging from the subway when the first tower fell, according to his father. He became covered in dust and debris as he tried to help others, the elder Spindler said.

In the Nairobi attack, a man who gave only his first name, Davis, described how he had escaped with colleagues by fleeing down a fire escape.

“It’s a traumatic experience. It shakes you,” he said. Still, Davis said he was impressed by the “inner strength” and compassion of people who helped each other in the midst of danger.

His own thoughts, he said, were: “Get people out and get out yourself. That’s it.”

Story: Christopher Torchia