Hiding Guns on Board

[The Garbone]

Securing Guns would be a better bet than "Hiding".

As I carry and sail stateside on our new boat we plan on installing a wall mount safe that can hold a sidearm on the bulkhead in the Vberth. One of the type with a quick finger combination.

Gunvault SpeedVault SV500 gun safe - Amazon.com


I usually don't carry on board and don't want little hands getting into things they should not. We do have a locking drawer but then you have to worry about the key. A combo only adults know is probably a better idea.

[nigel1]

Having spent close to 40 yrs on merchant ships, been to most bits you can get to by boat, I'll endorse what others have said, customs and immigration will find whatever it you are trying to hide. And if they even suspect something illegal is onboard, they can dismantle your boat until they find it.
I was on a boat called the Jamaica Producer many years ago, UK customs had a tip off that something was on board that should not have been. By the time they had taken the ship apart, the cost of putting it together again was not worth the value of the ship

[goboatingnow]

No, carry then. Hide them under the bunk mattress " they'll never find em , you'll be fine

Dave

[landonshaw]

First Ido not haves gun on board and do sail internationally, Caribbean. Don't do it, first, you are asked when you enter a country, best to start off being honest. If you have a gun you turn it in, if you hide it, ok if you don't use it. But if you find a need to use it, then you are in big legal problems! This countries like the states like visitors that do not break the law. In Grenada you can have a gun permit although they are very particular in where you have it. In your home ok, in public, on.I recommend you find another way to protect yourself.

[tropicalescape]

I would get one of those big ol 44 magnums and "suitcase" it, they would never think to look for one in your "suitcase"...

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

No, carry then. Hide them under the bunk mattress " they'll never find em , you'll be fine

Dave

Possibly by far the best advice I have read on a gun topic for quite awhile

[CarinaPDX]

This thread is meant to address the issue of how to live aboard with a gun when the legality is ambiguous in large parts of the world.

First off, there are no such places - the law is quite clear, and if in doubt the local customs officer will be happy to clarify. What you are "cutely" asking is how to hide guns in places they are illegal. In simple terms, you would be a gun smuggler, a criminal, and subject to serious penalties including a near certain extended stay in jail. If you are happy to see yourself as a criminal, caught or not, then nothing anyone says will change that.

Yes, I have known quite a few countrymen that have hidden guns aboard, in one case a shotgun but mostly handguns and a few rifles. It is quite possible to hide them from casual scrutiny but not a search. It is easier to hide them on a large boat but they will still yield to a serious effort. Many of the folks I have known with guns got rid of them after a year or two. Some took them home, some threw them overboard, and one particularly foolish individual sold his Mac-10 to a resident of a country where it was illegal.

I do not see this issue as about gun ownership per se; it is an issue of respect for the laws of the nations one visits. If you come intending to break their laws you do not deserve to be welcomed. So if you want to carry guns then do so, but please do it in a legal way. Just be aware that it will be a right royal pain to do so, will afford minimal security improvements, and will often cause a hostile welcome. Or you can learn to travel safely and not relying on having the biggest stick.

Greg

[Strait Shooter]

I have no need to hide guns, I don't take them where or when I can't have them.

However, I've been a cabinet and furniture maker, as was Dad and his Dad, for most of my life. I love making hidden compartments and can assure you that short of tearing the boat apart with sawzalls and crow bars, ain't nobody going to find them.

I use them on the boat for money stashes, or maybe gold, or silver....... To keep if safe from the zombie hoards, as it were.

[West star]

Originally Posted by erobert

It would be easy to hide a handgun but if they're close enough to be shot with a handgun then one might as well throw your hands up and try the Stockholm strategy.

Have you ever tried to shoot a moving object, while on a moving object?
I mean, sure, there are helicopter snipers, but they are rare.
You want to know how to keep people with rifles off your boat? Fire a warning shot.
The scenario I read most, is someone waking up to have a visitor on board. In the cockpit most times.

Where would I hide it? Under an 8D battery. 150# is above customs pay grade, unless they have a reason to think your hiding something.

[goboatingnow]

I saw the interior of an 80 footer taken apart during a drugs interdiction , they'll find your hiding places. Don't worry.

Lets say after it , there was no interior in the 80 footer.

Dave

[skipmac]

As several have pointed out, anything that can be hidden can be found. Even if you do find a really good place to hide it then it will be difficult to access if (note IF not WHEN) you need it.

And if you get caught with an undeclared firearm (which in most countries includes pistols, rifles, shotguns, bows, cross bows, flare guns and often even spear guns) then you might spend a long time in a jail that makes the drunk tank in a major US city on Saturday night look like the Waldorf.

I met a boater that had a dispute with customs in Jamaica and spent a week in the local lockup. At high tide there was 6" of water in one side of the cell, rats at night and cockroaches 24/7. The bed was a couple of boards over a frame, no blankets, no pillow. The toilet was a bucket. He didn't wash (no water) or eat (afraid of food poisoning) the whole time he was there. From what I've heard that is not atypical for a third world jail.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by skipmac

As several have pointed out, anything that can be hidden can be found. Even if you do find a really good place to hide it then it will be difficult to access if (note IF not WHEN) you need it.

And if you get caught with an undeclared firearm (which in most countries includes pistols, rifles, shotguns, bows, cross bows, flare guns and often even spear guns) then you might spend a long time in a jail that makes the drunk tank in a major US city on Saturday night look like the Waldorf.

I met a boater that had a dispute with customs in Jamaica and spent a week in the local lockup. At high tide there was 6" of water in one side of the cell, rats at night and cockroaches 24/7. The bed was a couple of boards over a frame, no blankets, no pillow. The toilet was a bucket. He didn't wash (no water) or eat (afraid of food poisoning) the whole time he was there. From what I've heard that is not atypical for a third world jail.

A person can cruise Jamaica with a gun in a sealed locker,(I have seen tape placed over the seal of a cabinet or closet with a door that shuts tight)...hate to hear of someone being jailed,i always paid my way out!! ha ha

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

A person can cruise Jamaica with a gun in a sealed locker,(I have seen tape placed over the seal of a cabinet or closet with a door that shuts tight)...hate to hear of someone being jailed,i always paid my way out!! ha ha

When I was in Jamaica 30 years ago they insisted quite firmly that I surrender my SS Smith and Wesson large frame .357. They didn't care about no stinkin' locked and sealed gun cabinet.

They swore it would be returned on departure but I never saw it again, even after I delayed departure a couple of times and was promised "soon come". Last time I took a gun cruising.

Would have hated to offer to pay any "under the table fee" in Jamaica (never got in the position where I had to try thank goodness). Plenty of officials I'm sure would have taken it gladly and facilitated whatever or look the other way on most anything. But I met a few that I was pretty sure would be highly insulted by the offer and might result in my standing in deep manure.

The raw water pump impellor died while I was there. Dug out my spare but turned out when my mechanic put together my list of spares he put in the wrong impellor (yes I should have checked). No problem, called the mechanic in Ft Lauderdale who apologized profusely and stopped at the airport on the way home that evening and put one on Delta Dash (ships on the next flight like a checked bag, wonder if they still do that?). Went to the MoBay airport customs office first thing the next morning knowing it would be there.

Found the office, politely gave the information to the guy sitting at a desk inside the wire mesh enclosure who didn't even look up from his paperwork to say "It isn't here". But I said, my friend promised it would be on the evening flight, what could have happened. "It isn't here" he says again.

So I turned to go and happened to see the Volvo parts box sitting on a shelf right there. "Oh look" I said happily, "I see it right there."

The finally looks up, looked at the box, looked at me and said, "It's not ready".

So I'm wondering if he's angling for a little personal fee or if something more is going on. After careful consideration I decided the whole thing was about control and he was going to get to it when he was ready and no rich tourist was going to make him hurry. Never will know for certain but I felt pretty sure that an offer of a bribe in that situation would have been the wrong thing to do.

So I said thank you very much, I'll check back later. Came back every afternoon and said hi, how's it going, ready yet? Took three days but I didn't get annoyed and just enjoyed the game, that's just island time and part of the experience. But I do wish I had my S&W.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by West star

Have you ever tried to shoot a moving object, while on a moving object?
I mean, sure, there are helicopter snipers, but they are rare.

Yes I have tried and it's a lot harder than you would think. I wasn't a trained sniper but I shot expert, was captain of the rifle team, shot skeet and when I was 16 could regularly get my limit of 12 dove from a box of shells.

Occasionally when offshore we tossed a bottle off the boat and tried to sink it with a .223. Never even came close, even when the bottle was only 100' or so from the boat. The boat bouncing up and down and the bottle bouncing up and down plus trying to find a solid stance on the boat without falling in the drink was a trip. Of course it might be a little easier off the stern of a 500' destroyer.

[Boracay]

For those who may be considering taking a gun to the Java Sea a very careful read of Indonesian firearm law is advised.

If you have concerns about your personal safety in Indonesia then compare the homicide statistics for Indonesia with those for any any part of the United States.

My observation is that the most dangerous items in Indonesia are ethanol, motorcycles and methanol. All may be avoided without too much trouble.