Sailboat Seized with Guns in Tulum, Mexico

[Gabrieln]

Astrid, marry me!

:-)

[sabray]

Should make no difference if the guy has face paint. 600 rounds doesn't add up to a gun dealer or a Mexican rebel. Im not a huge fan of guns but I really wish we could use common sense without judicial idiocy..
Almost every gun sold now is semiautomatic. some 30,000 have died in the mexican drug wars. This idiot screwing up does not seem a part of the Mexican issue. Situation as its presented seems like a play that effects liberty and a childs life.
In context the charges seem out of line. The boat should be charged with incompetent navigation and dumb choice of supply.
3 lashes of the cats tail kid goes free.

[Dulcesuenos]

Seriously i love armchair experts, if you dont know the difference between an Ak or any variant of the Ak (mac90 etc) semi or fully auto vs an SKS you have Zero business talking about them. The differences are Huge.
Besides i wonder what kind of anchor he had,,,,,,

[sww914]

There are some people who are so ignorant that they think that US laws and only US laws apply to them anywhere in the world. I am NOT pointing fingers at anyone on this board.

[sww914]

BTW, .22 shells come in boxes of 500 almost everywhere that sells ammo. You can carry it in one hand and it costs like $15.00. 600 rounds isn't really that much ammo.

[sycankiz]

Originally Posted by Madwand

You sound like a child disputing something you know nothing of. There are dozens of manufacturers of semi automatic ak-47s in the US.

I know what is an AK47. Russia has been our northern neighbour for centuries, remember... I've used it, the Kurdish rebels here in Turkey use it to day, so our army teaches us how to use it as well. It is the best weapon for the guerrilla war. It is light, newer misfires, easy to dis/assemble and maintain, even can fire under water, the simplest firing mechanism and the cheapest.

Yes but it is not counter strike 1.6 we are talking about.

Just look at the world statistics of civilian death by firearm by countries/nations and you will all understand my point.

Ignorance can be a blessing sometimes but an ignorant guy with a weapon is something else...

[waterworldly]

An interesting reply, that I see and hear often is the "we have children aboard". I think the obvious thing is that if you use your weapon in a foreign country, your undeclared unregistered weapon, even if it is justified by your standards, you will go to jail, even if the bad guy is a well known bad guy. SO, your children will go to foster care and you will go to jail under these conditions. I have lived and worked in many other countries, and have seen this happen before. If you look through all the forums on sailing/cruising/boating, you will see many defend to the death the need to carry firearms, but you will see little or no incidents where firearms "saved the day". I personally don't want anyone living next to me with automatic weapons, I have seen too many people drunk and handling guns to last me a lifetime, and too many stories like the one that started this thread. I just don't get it.

OPPS, just saw the picture, I GET IT NOW! Keep defending this guy's motives, will you guys, and make sure you invite him over to YOUR boat so you can compare notes!! I am SURE his neighbors kicked in to his cruising kitty!

[Madwand]

Originally Posted by sycankiz

I know what is an AK47.

So you should know what this is:

Russia has been our northern neighbour for centuries, remember... I've used it, the Kurdish rebels here in Turkey use it to day, so our army teaches us how to use it as well. It is the best weapon for the guerrilla war. It is light, newer misfires, easy to dis/assemble and maintain, even can fire under water, the simplest firing mechanism and the cheapest.

No one has disputed any of that. And everything you said applies to the weapon posted above, even though Kalashnikov did not build it.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by sww914

There are some people who are so ignorant that they think that US laws and only US laws apply to them anywhere in the world. I am NOT pointing fingers at anyone on this board.

I think the fundamental "problem" is not plain ignorance of foreign laws (nor even simply not caring!), but it's not understanding that the mindset of many in the US that goes with gun ownership is not considered "normal" outside the US - where folks are usually happy to give up their ability to kill each other, up to and including on an industrial scale , for the greater good of everyone and self (and they don't do that from being scared of their governments or from brainwashing - it's simply pragmatism and a desire to live civilised).

Clearly results on that approach are mixed , but nonetheless the mindset is fundamentally different.

Turning up with any gun in many places is as welcome as dropping a turd on the dinner table - as a guest..........no matter that it might be kinda normal back home or whether you can justify to yourself.

The "answer" is to either accept and work with the new reality you are faced with (that doesn't mean you have to agree with the locals)......... or don't and suck up the consequences, ideally without whining.

In any event, the approach that most of the rest of the world takes when going on vacation is not to go to places where you honestly beleive that a gun is needed to be safe - try it, yer might like it and it's an approach that also seems to work for 99% of Tourists and Visitors to.......the USA .

Besides, yer might also get laughed at a bit less .

[s/v Jedi]

Your post is also very much from a specific region point of view. In Venezuela I had the guarda costa explain us how to wait with shooting the boarders until they actually come over the lifelines. No need to register any guns aboard there either. Boardings got a lot less frequent after the first one was shot and dumped ashore by the authorities, for the family to collect.

See, that is the point of view from another region. There is every shade of gray in between and then there's the worse regions like Gulf of Aden or South China Sea.

Mexico really is a big exception in the region as it's the only one where you can't just declare a gun to be legal. I'm told it depends on the type and caliber of ammo used by the gun (may not be used by government?!). Every other country around the Caribbean I know of accepts yachts declaring any guns. The US is pretty strict too.

I find the arsenal carried excessive too. Taking assault guns with you is just plain stupid. You can't take anything with you ashore legally anywhere so a single shotgun is all that could be needed if you go where risks are real.

Originally Posted by waterworldly

An interesting reply, that I see and hear often is the "we have children aboard". I think the obvious thing is that if you use your weapon in a foreign country, your undeclared unregistered weapon, even if it is justified by your standards, you will go to jail, even if the bad guy is a well known bad guy. SO, your children will go to foster care and you will go to jail under these conditions. I have lived and worked in many other countries, and have seen this happen before. If you look through all the forums on sailing/cruising/boating, you will see many defend to the death the need to carry firearms, but you will see little or no incidents where firearms "saved the day". I personally don't want anyone living next to me with automatic weapons, I have seen too many people drunk and handling guns to last me a lifetime, and too many stories like the one that started this thread. I just don't get it.

OPPS, just saw the picture, I GET IT NOW! Keep defending this guy's motives, will you guys, and make sure you invite him over to YOUR boat so you can compare notes!! I am SURE his neighbors kicked in to his cruising kitty!

[zeehag]

it seems to me that escapees of usa need to remember that when they leave usa they are not protected as they are within the boundaries of our once great nation.

guns are not welcome here(mexico). there are already enough guns coming in from usa government sources. there is truly no need to bring weaponry into a place in which one is not a citizen. why make waves and make your enjoyment come to a total halt, as well as your personal freedoms....the legal system in many places is napoleonic. understand that--GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT which is an impossibility in your lifetime. life in mexican prison is notoriously uncomfortable. many have gone before..
do not bring any weaponry or drugs or human beings anywhere...isnt worth the effort.

well..mebbe a louisville slugger with a good gaff on it.....


btw--dissing anyplace because of a bunch of crime that is FUNDED BY USA isnt the way to do this....get usa to quit subsidizing the drug lords than complain.....

[capngeo]

And with that overly political comment the thread is now closed... GOOD JOB!