firearms on board

[Jaguar]

Do any of you guys carry firearms on boats overseas (outside the EU)? I will be starting a worldwide cruise soon and am thinking of investing in a rifle for personal protection. I have heard of people doing this, but I don't know how easy it is to get customs clearance to hold these things on board when in foreign ports of call.

JJ

 

[Stingo]

Have look at the "live aboard" forum and look for the piracy thread. There's a link there to a piracy website that discourages firearms. I have to agree with their view.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.stingo.co.uk>http://www.stingo.co.uk</A> - now showing at a computer near you

 

[sailbadthesinner]

mad idea
i have to say
can you use a gun? to be a fair shot you need practice.
you also need it to hand before someone jumps aboard at night. so you have a loaded gun lying around??

how motivated are you to retain your posessions? enough to kill someone??
how will the locals react when they know the a significant number of cruisers in the bay ar armed ?
would you not sooner avoid those spots of the world or just accept that you would have to hold up my arms if i was boarded.


Ok brain let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer.

 

[Jaguar]

I am an OK shot. But I agree, it is not something that I could easily do. If however, some guys came aboard with knifes off the coast of say Indonesia, I would far rather be armed than not.

JJ

 

[Jaguar]

I am an OK shot. But I agree, it is not something that I could easily do. If however, some guys came aboard with knifes off the coast of say Indonesia, I would far rather be armed than not.

JJ

 

[Magic_Sailor]

Barking! nm

.

 

[sailbadthesinner]

why on earth
i would submit the chances increase of you being killed if you carry a gun

either
they fire back ( assume there are three with guns). are you so good you can hit all three?
or
remember you are in their back yard. i assume they operate in loose gangs

so you nick or kill one and scare the others away
do you not think they will be back and armed?

remember they have the element of surprise

i worry that if the locals start encountering more armed yachtsmen then you endanger thos who choose not to, the raiders give up trying to frighten and rob and just go in all guns blazing.

can i say i think you are bit mad.

Ok brain let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer.

 

[Guest]

I think you have to go to one extreme or another. If you carry a gun and they carry gun, a firefight is guaranteed, if you don't carry a gun hopefully they will feel no need to use theirs, Either:

1. Carry nothing, except perhaps Pepper spray.

2. Arm yourself in such away that you will win a firefight. A moving boat makes aiming difficult so a rifle would be highly inappropriate. You need either a pump action shotgun or a spray and pray weapon such as the Uzi.

Personally I've decided on option 1. To avoid all the hassle with customs, which will often involve handing the weapons over to them for the duration of your stay, which is awkward if you don't intend to leave their territory from the same port you entered. I also don't fancy ever having to explain a number of dead locals on my boat!

Will

 

[c_roff]

In July my wife and I will be seting sail from the UK for New Zealand via Panama. We've decided not to carry firearms as we believe that carrying a gun could potentially put us in greater danger rather than increase our safety. In the relatively unlikely event that you are raided by pirates then the first you will know about it is probably when they are on board. As likely as not you will be in your bunk! Pulling out a gun at this point will only inflame the situation. Presumably you are considering a firearm as a deterrent, but once the pirates are on board it's too late. Everyone's adrenalin will be running very high and I would have thought that in having a gun pointed at him a pirate is more likely to shoot you! I believe that Peter Blake was tragicly murdered in this way. If I'm ever unfortunate enough to be raided I hope to have the presence of mind to hold up my hands and tell the thieves to take what they want and clear off! However, I once read an account of someone raided at night whilst at anchor. As a matter of course they had locked the companion-way hatch and by squirting pepper spray through the vent into the intruders face and switching on the deck lights from the cabin they claimed to have succesfully driven the thieves away. I've yet to experience the beaurocracy of clearing in and out of different countries but by all accounts it can be a tedious and trying experience. I can only assume that carrying a firearm will only exacerbate this process.



whistler

 

[Jaguar]

hmm, good point. If there was more than one of them armed, I would not even show a weapon (not good odds). If I did force them away, I would then immediately vacate the area myself. As to a greater risk to other yachts, that is a possibility, but as I understand things, a few yachts are armed anyway. As to me being mad - possibly, otherwise how would one explain my inclination to exchange a comfortable London existance for a squalid boat!

 

[Twister_Ken]

AK47 or K9

How about a large evil-looking dog that barks fiercely at any boat that comes within hailing range?

 

[claymore]

Peter Blake R.I.P

I thought that would have taught us all a lesson about carrying firearms - unless I read it wrong, Peter Blake may not have lost his life if he hadn't used his gun?

regards
Claymore

 

[jimi]

I'd have thought you'd really need something that'd stop them getting close, so I'd go for a Bazooka or foredeck mounted automatic cannon, give Blair a call and he'll probably give you a privateers licence or something. No use being namby pamby about it, a couple of SAM missiles might also be a good investment. Just tell 'em that they're distress rockets you bought cheap in Eastern Europe.

 

[claymore]

Only responding to the last sentence - I think you'd be mad not to, given the opportunity
Good Luck

regards
Claymore

 

[claymore]

Now we are talking

REAL deterrants

regards
Claymore

 

[Jacket]

Reading the latest piracy reports, they're more likely to have guns than knives. And their's will be fully automatic. So unless you're planning to add armour plating to your cockpit, I'd just hand over your money if I were you.

 

[chriscallender]

I'm sure this is true - having a gun on board increases your chances of getting shot, especially with your own gun!

Surely there must be some effective but less dangerous way of detering unwanted visitors ... perhaps a large and fierce looking dog if there is space...

Chris

 

[summerwind]

Yup! Guns are a top idea! You should be able to get a semi-automatic rifle and convert it to fire on automatic. Extremely simple mod for the old British Army 7.62 rifle Make short work of any pirate carrying rib.

I reckon you should also have a pump action shotgun, sawn off for easy handling in close quarters. You nick the cartridges of course, so that you get a solid lump of shot rather than a scatter. Pirate with large hole in guts isn't too interested in stealing your GPS.

You nick the 7.62 rounds as well so that they disintegrate when they hit the pirate, increasing your chances of killing the bas***d. You would certainly blow a few decent sized lumps off him.

A box of hand grenades is an excellent idea. Lobbing one into an approaching pirates' boat will concentrate their minds. A box of gelignite with the appropriate fuses is also a handy accessory. You would only need one stick to blow the average pirate rib to Davy Jones.

I reckon it should be made compulsory for all boat owners sailing in known parate operating areas to be fully tooled up. The pirates trade on not getting injured. Once a few dozen of them were maimed, sunk and killed they would soon pack it up and go for easier targets. Not only should it be compulsory to carry arms, it should be compulsory to shoot up a few ports in parate areas, just to get the message across. (Gunboat diplomacy worked very well for the old empire before the milksops gave it away.) Of course, a few sailors will get killed in the early days, but that is a cheap price to pay for the rest of us, isn't it?

 

[wpsalm]

No ....obviously if you need to ask other peoples advice on this issue you are not decisive enough to use firearms in a conflict situation.....

 

[ccscott49]

Most pirates want money watches etc things easy to sell. Just give it to them, and carry the minimum of those types of things. Hide the rest very well. Leave your rolex at home or stored and buy a cheapo electric one from woolworths, (more accurate anyway) Just don't have onboard things of obvious value, or stay away from areas known to be pirate havens. But whatever you do, do not resist, unless you need to defend your's or your families lives, nothing else is worth giving your life for and no guns!