Firearms aboard???

Technically you may under UK law have a firearm on your seagoing vessel, without a licence, under Section 13 of the 1968 Firearms Act.. Many UK ports / harbours ban the keeping of firearms on board by local byelaw. Also, unfortunately the MCA seem to interpret the Section 13 exemption as only permitting weapons that could otherwise be held on Firearms or Shotgun Certificate, so excluding "Section 5" weapons, which is all the really useful stuff - pistols, sub-machine guns, noxious sprays etc., Effectively you are permitted shotgun or rifle on boat without a licence. You might get a Section 5 dealer to agree to supply you something more useful, but the probablility is that the local Firearms licensing office would refuse the Section 5 dealer permission to tran sport the weapons to your boat, and you could not do so yourself because you would not have the required licence to possess the weapons on dry land while taking them from dealer to boat.

I have no idea how the situation is handled by different nations around the world, but I would expect you to have problems with the authorities in many places.

Frankly I wouldn't attempt to defend against pirates etc. without some very heavy hardware which you may not legally buy in the UK - a rocket-propelled grenade would be useful /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Steve
 
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I have no idea how the situation is handled by different nations around the world, but I would expect you to have problems with the authorities in many places.

[/ QUOTE ]That's why I posted the experience of J-F Diné who has travelled all over, including EU countries (not UK), Morocco and Tunisia. His is a shotgun and he ALWAYS declares it. He is an ex-gendarme, if that makes any difference? Might have some pull in N. Africa, I suspect.
 
Mate of mine had a d/b shotgun when cruising the Bahamas. Competent and ex army,he reasoned that any bad guys sniffing around at night for an easy burglary would recognise the unmistakeable sound of it being racked and loaded, clear across the water....Certainly enough to scare me when he demonstrated the technique....
Guess I have come up with a sound reason for having radar now-as a proximity warning device at anchor.(tongue in cheek)
 
I have a verry pistol which I take when on board, this is fully certifed for the UK and covered by a European certicate to go aboard. This also coveres my shotgun. Taking it by ferry is not a problem except it has to be locked in the car and the captain advised.
I do not leave it on board except when on holiday.
 
interested in your European certificate as the boat we are currently purchasing has one of these in it's inventory. I am not intending coming to UK waters at this point, but certainly to the Med area next year.
 
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Taking it by ferry is not a problem except it has to be locked in the car and the captain advised.

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you won't be able to take it on a high-speed ferry. We weren't even allowed to take normal flares, in a canister in the car.
 
I'll caveat what I am about to write with the comment that I am a relative novice - the only sailing i have done is in the solent (apart from the odd passage to Cherbourg, cork and bringing the boat back from Sweden). However, in the next yr or so I intend to go blue water cruising and have often wondered what I would do if I came under attack from "Pirates". I hold the same view as other posts i.e my only concern would be my life - if the worse case scenario is theft then so be it. One thought I had was doing a diving course (which I want to do anyway for the pleasure and potential need when cruising) but also as a thought in the eventuality of a pirate attack. If when sailing in "risk areas" you followed a routine that you always had the diving tanks and weights to hand - throw overboard the tanks on a suitable line with a second line (kept on board in hand) when a potential threat vessel was approaching you throw the tanks over the opposite side to the point of approach and put on weight belt - if the attackers bear arms you jump overboard with the 2nd line - then put on tanks and make way to under the keel and sit out until either your boat moves or their boat moves. I know it sounds a bit James Bond - but would welcome any thoughts.
 
interesting -- but how long can you sit it out ?
what do you do if your boat moves but their boat doesn`t ?
what happens if they pull up the lines ?
 
Piracy and firearms in the Philippines

Someone I know was crewing in the South China Sea Race, a few years ago.

Boat was well stocked with firearms.

They were becalmed off the coast of Luzon, when they spotted a fleet of bancas heading in their direction.

Major panic on board.

They were about to start shooting when the man in the nearest boat held up a fish....
 
Recently met a guy who successfully deterred two would-be pirates who boarded him in Venezuela by firing a flare gun. Pirates don't particularly want to meet armed and desperate men either, they prefer the easy touch.

Incidentally, he mentioned that it is possible to get scattershot shells for a flare pistol.

PS Mirelle, even pirates know the dodge about holding up a fish in order to get close in. Fishing is often their day job.
 
"possible to get scattershot shells for a flare pistol"

Please Please do not go that way. Shot guns have nice long barrels for a very good reason.
 
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Shot guns have nice long barrels for a very good reason.

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/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Then why are sawn-off shotguns soo popular with the criminal element?

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
The problem is you do not know if they are 'baddies' until they open fire. once you have 10 to 15 guns pointing - firing at you there is no easy route except to put your arms up and heave too.

Pirates look like ordinary people. In the Gulf of Aden and adjacent areas many ordinary people carry guns as a matter of course.

Saw a sign in a restaurant saying 'please leave your guns at reception and not take them into the dining room'...

Michael
 
Sounds daft: because their legs are that length.

It is more to do with hiding them.

It is a good point though, that even criminals are not stupid enough to cut the barrel too short.
 
So, are you about to start shooting third world fishermen, on the precautionary principle? If so, please keep out of the Philippines, as some of them will be my relations by marriage.

You may find this helpful, it takes a little time to load:

IMB map of pirate attacks.
 
Likewise, I've always felt perfectly safe in the Philippines.

Somewhat contrary to Andrew B's assertion, in my indirect experience (colleagues have been pirated, but not me) Indonesian piracy is often carried out by members of their armed forces, moonlighting. The men involved in the three attacks that I know about in detail were very fit, well disciplined and went about rummaging the ship in a very professional manner.

On the other hand, Thai fishermen used to pirate the Vietnamese refugee boats, very regularly, in rather nasty ways, because they were aware that the Viets tended to carry gold with them.
 
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