Handgun onboard on ICW

[sailnow2011]

No go zones are DC and MD.
Other then that, welcome to the south, where most people carry concealed with permits, and gun shops are everywhere!
We cruise with guns, welcome to our little group
ICW as anywhere else can go from safe to dangerous with just one person on drugs, or holding a grudge. Just like anywhere else. Boardings from strangers in the night are reported from time to time.
Better to be protected and not need it, then to wish you had protection when needed.

[sailnow2011]

Originally Posted by rgravitte

I sail the east coast and always carry. I have never had my boat searched. I was asked once by the coast guard if I had weapons on board. I said no and nothing else was said.

I always tell the CG that I have many onboard. They ask where, and say leave them where they are please. Thats it. They do not want you to surprise them is all. They are not here to take our guns, or hassle us for being armed.

[Bulawayo]

I appreciate the points you made but the world is not safe everywhere. I cannot talk about the ICW specifically but our home waters (Indian Ocean/South Africa) certainly have security issues which can affect any small craft. You are not guaranteed to have an adverse experience and hopefully this only affects a very small percentage of boats; I believe this is the most likely scenario. People from other cultures may base their comments on their experience which are as valid as anyone elses but we have to appreciate that situations differ by locale.
As far as the ICW is concerned, my own understanding is that the route is not subject to any particular risks that warrant a firearm?

Originally Posted by pwhitburn

As an Australian living in a relatively safe and gun free country I have a great deal of difficulty understanding why anyone would want to carry a gun while cruising in their own country.
I accept that I do not understand the gun culture of the USA but in my opinion it reenforces my thoughts that America is a country in decline.
I accept that I am looking at the issue from afar and I can also accept that there may be a reason for a gun in some unsafe countries but against my fellow cruisers "give me a break"
Our country is a long way from perfect so don't waste your time telling me about our problems.
This is very sad.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by LewinDE

I'm preparing to head to Florida this winter from the Chesapeake Bay. I'm considering carrying a handgun on board. Can anyone give advice on things to consider to avoid breaking any state laws?

At a wild guess.....how about finding out from each State direct you are visiting what their laws are. And following them.



Sent from my NEXUS 5 whilst sitting in my armchair tied to the dock.

[fryewe]

Originally Posted by LewinDE

I'm preparing to head to Florida this winter from the Chesapeake Bay. I'm considering carrying a handgun on board. Can anyone give advice on things to consider to avoid breaking any state laws?

If you are set on carrying a hand gun, the advice to check out each state's laws is spot on.

There are fewer restrictions on shotguns. The shotgun I take into the field most frequently is the 410ga "Snake Charmer II," a short-barreled single shot gun that is very effective at short range against threats such as pit vipers and potentially rabid small and mid-size animals. It is a low cost, reliable, small, but deadly firearm. You are more likely to need a gun in the southland swamps to dispatch an aggressive water moccasin than a pirate (herpetologists say they aren't aggressive, but having been repeatedly charged by them, I say they are wrong).

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailnow2011

No go zones are DC and MD.
Other then that, welcome to the south, where most people carry concealed with permits, and gun shops are everywhere!

I was born and raised in the south and it is certainly not my experience that "most people carry concealed" with or without permits.

Based on online data for carry permits state by state I checked 7 southern states. Most were 3-4%, TX, LA, GA. AL was 10%. The highest I checked was KY with 13%.

[peer64]

The solution is a black powder revolver. You can remove the loaded cylinder and install a padlock on the frame to make it 100% inoperable when necessary. ie. Washington DC, New York, Massachusetts, etc. The laws that pertain to black powder guns or (primitive firearms) are extremely lenient. Unlike the laws for (modern handguns) in some states. And EVERY state is different ! 44 cal. black powder revolver is still a formidable weapon. They are also reasonably priced, fun and cheap to shoot, and come in stainless steel for us boaters.

John,


Don't dream the life. Live the dream !

[Robin3]

Originally Posted by alansmith

"Even the Queen of England had an intruder in her bedroom a number of years ago."

Did that intruder realize how old she is?

BUT she didn't shoot him though, nor was she harmed. Oh and she shoots game on occasion or used to, but that game is feathered not human as preferred by many Americans it seems.

[Bulawayo]

Thats appreciated but it shows the vulnerability of a head of state in their own residence even with all the security that was apparent (including those guys with the bear skin hats, automatic rifles and bayonets). Had she been awake when he first intruded I wonder how she might have reacted? However, apparently she engaged him with her well developed small talk.
The disturbing matter for her and her staff/family surely would have included several 'what ifs'.
Still, its hard to imagine QEII sleeping with a .45 under her pillow.

Originally Posted by Robin3

BUT she didn't shoot him though, nor was she harmed. Oh and she shoots game on occasion or used to, but that game is feathered not human as preferred by many Americans it seems.

[Jason Flare]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

At a wild guess.....how about finding out from each State direct you are visiting what their laws are. And following them.



Sent from my NEXUS 5 whilst sitting in my armchair tied to the dock.

Another thing to check out, if you haven't run across it already, is the Firearm Owners Protection Act. It's a federal law which makes it legal to carry a firtearm through all 50 states. It requires that the firearm be unloaded and locked in a case. The amunition must be separate.

FOPA talks about the transport of firearms in a "vehicle," and assumes an automobile in many cases but a boat is a vehicle as well.

A requirement of FOPA is that you must be legally allowed to carry the firearm in the state you departed from and the state of your final destination.

So, as a Massachusetts resident traveling north along the US east coast the correct answer to NJ law enforcement as to my destination would be Massachusetts, not Barnagat Bay.

Travelling south my answer the LE as to my destination is a state where I can
legally carry.

Mrs. Flare and I have carry permits for FL and MA. and it is very difficult to figure out the convoluted laws in multiple states.

Good luck.

[Robin3]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

Thats appreciated but it shows the vulnerability of a head of state in their own residence even with all the security that was apparent (including those guys with the bear skin hats, automatic rifles and bayonets). Had she been awake when he first intruded I wonder how she might have reacted? However, apparently she engaged him with her well developed small talk.
The disturbing matter for her and her staff/family surely would have included several 'what ifs'.
Still, its hard to imagine QEII sleeping with a .45 under her pillow.

No different than the US post office worker who flew a powered hang glider or similar and landed it on the whitehouse lawn?

Note that the intruder at Buck House was not surrounded by hundreds of men in black and then riddled with bullets..... That US post office guy was lucky not to have been taken down by a black hawk helo!

[Bulawayo]

Hi Robin - that is one of the problems with cruising - I had not even heard of that incident. Reminds me when we travelled to visit family in 1998 and my sisters children asked us our opinion of a pop group called The Spice Girls - our reaction was ''who are they?"
However, the postal worker sounds very lucky - unless he was just carrying an urgent despatch for the President!

Originally Posted by Robin3

No different than the US post office worker who flew a powered hang glider or similar and landed it on the whitehouse lawn?

Note that the intruder at Buck House was not surrounded by hundreds of men in black and then riddled with bullets..... That US post office guy was lucky not to have been taken down by a black hawk helo!

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

... Still, its hard to imagine QEII sleeping with a .45 under her pillow.

The Queen knows how to defend herself. I believe THIS is what she keeps under her pillow.

[Bulawayo]

Beaut!!

Originally Posted by Cormorant

The Queen knows how to defend herself. I believe THIS is what she keeps under her pillow.

[CampDavid]

What a telling string about the differences in society between our nations as well as between areas of the USA.

I do understand that in certain areas of the USA the amount of guns might in itself cause one to believe they need a gun. If one drills down on the issue it comes back to why they make hand guns in the first place. They are made to kill or at the best injure people. Kinda sad. I vote to not own a gun and to live a life that does not require others to need a gun.

Enough said

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