Bahamas Rules For Firearms On Board

[Dieseldude]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

You mean 447 million out of 7.9 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogr...European_Union

And even that's not accurate as all the "gun free European countries have armed police to enforce the law".

Why bother looking at wiki? They sanitize anything that might be considered a social or political issue. Great that gun free countries have armed police who generally show up on time to draw chalk marks around bodies and take photos of dead people.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The point is nick , in most places you are committing a crime merely removing the firearm from its storage. Brandishing it on your boat at someone is typically also a crime.

A gun is useless if you go to jail for holding it in your hand.

Unless you have legal protection it’s a huge risk making a firearm visible to someone.

Imagine , a few rough necks show up along , you wave the gun and tell them to clear off. They report you. You have now committed a crime and the penalties in many countries for firearm law breaking is often very severe

In essence a gun onboard is a crutch , it provides a false sense of security yet in the vast majority of situations you will not have it ready to deploy or will break a law to do so.

I have my firearms at home and I can access them if I need to. I also have castle doctrine laws that protect me if I “ overreact “. There is typically no such protection on a boat in territorial waters .

Most countries in essence criminalise the use of a firearm for premeditated personal defence.
The laws in most countries simply do NOT support “ arming “ yourself.


You’d be better off hitting them with a boat hook.

The fact is serious crime against boaters is rare and unusual. A wife raped in front of you is a powerful image but it’s an inappropriate one as it’s exceeding rare. Equally what in the name of god are people doing cruising in such an area anywhere. There are loads of objectively safe places to cruise in the world.

I’ve been around firearms since I was 8 , and I like my firearms , but Ive never seen the point of them on a small boat.

And yes I pay taxes and in our constitution the state has a distinct and clear duty to protect its citizens , and given the low murder rate ( especially if one excludes the odd intergang killing ) one can deduce that state is doing a reasonable job of doing so.

Covid is dead long live the CF firearms thread

Dave

Brandishing arms? Sounds like persons who shouldn’t even be allowed to own any. We don’t brandish arms.
You do know that the right to self defense is a human right, carried in every constitutional state, right?

But incidents being rare and unusual is simply false. We personally know dozens (think 30+) cruisers who have been attacked by pirates, 4 killed and one barely survived, stabbed and left for dead after witnessing her husband’s throat cut.

No, this is not rare and unusual.

[Shanachie]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

But incidents being rare and unusual is simply false. We personally know dozens (think 30+) cruisers who have been attacked by pirates, 4 killed and one barely survived, stabbed and left for dead after witnessing her husband’s throat cut.

No, this is not rare and unusual.

Yet you list your location as "in paradise" ...

[keithhe]

Originally Posted by ozarkshark

No current experience, but 10 years ago we sailed in a charter to Bahamas, cleared customs in Morgan's bluff, one of the guys had a 9mm, it was declared and nothing else was said about it. And yeas as an American who does own a few guns, I am disturbed by all these people hording ammunition and weapons. There are so many ruff looking people openly carry guns around my rural home town that it makes me uncomfortable. Over Christmas as I was checking into a motel in Branson Missouri, I noticed two gun barrels pointed at me, the guy ahead in line had a shoulder harness with two pistols with the barrels pointed under his arms. I went to a guys house and he proudly showed me 23 AR-15's in his gun room. I mean really what is the deal? I thought I paid taxes so the law and the courts were supposed to keep me safe? If I have to carry a gun to protect myself, do I really need to go there?

I have generally expected people on this site to be able to read, and interpret a post. You clearly did neither.

[keithhe]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

It’s not political it’s social and law.
Opening a coat to expose a concealed fire arm is a deadly threat which is assault under Common Law.
When a handful of Americans who don’t truly represent the majorities attitude towards guns starts a thread about “ their gun rights” it should get trolled internationally just in case you forget 3 billion of us don’t think guns are political.

Did you even read the OP? Based on your answer, no you didn't. Please show me where at any time the OP said or wrote "their gun rights".

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Brandishing arms? Sounds like persons who shouldn’t even be allowed to own any. We don’t brandish arms.
You do know that the right to self defense is a human right, carried in every constitutional state, right?

But incidents being rare and unusual is simply false. We personally know dozens (think 30+) cruisers who have been attacked by pirates, 4 killed and one barely survived, stabbed and left for dead after witnessing her husband’s throat cut.

No, this is not rare and unusual.

The thread is about the Bahamas so just to be clear, these events occurred in the Bahamas right?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

You mean 447 million out of 7.9 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogr...European_Union

And even that's not accurate as all the "gun free European countries have armed police to enforce the law".

Lots of European Union citizens own guns , I have three

And we have an unarmed uniformed police at home. , ( we have currently 25 special armed police spread around the country , they have nice distinctive volvos ) , the other 6000 are unarmed. Living there full time for many years I have never seen a gun in a public place.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Brandishing arms? Sounds like persons who shouldn’t even be allowed to own any. We don’t brandish arms.
You do know that the right to self defense is a human right, carried in every constitutional state, right?

But incidents being rare and unusual is simply false. We personally know dozens (think 30+) cruisers who have been attacked by pirates, 4 killed and one barely survived, stabbed and left for dead after witnessing her husband’s throat cut.

No, this is not rare and unusual.

Again nick , if you abide by Bahamian law you cannot remove your firearm from its “ lock and key “ under any circumstance while in Bahamian waters. There are no legal exceptions , to use a firearm in the Bahamas under any circumstances requires a Bahamian firearms license.

People here are being selective about the law , picking and choosing the ones to obey

Bahamian law , like many countries , basically says sure you can bring in your unlicensed firearm , but on no account can you use it in any manner .

And no most countries do not have a constitutional right to self defence. The situation is mostly defined in law not in constitutional texts. , in the uk for example there is very little protection if you overreact even in your home. In many countries you must not stand your ground especially outside your home etc.

In many countries firearms are licensed for sports and hunting and cannot be used as personal defense in most circumstances , certainly not premeditated ones.

I’m sailing since I was 17. Unlike you I have never ever seen anything ( or heard of) the things you describe and Iv e sailed parts of North Africa , and most of the Caribbean.

Most people unless combat trained and subject to regular practice won’t react correctly under pressure anyway , are likely to panic and potentially unintentionally harm themselves or others in the process.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by keithhe

Did you even read the OP? Based on your answer, no you didn't. Please show me where at any time the OP said or wrote "their gun rights".

The point is Bahamian law forbids the use of your unlicensed firearm while inside it’s waters , period. So why bother to bring it. What’s the point of having a firearm you cant legally touch.

[Doek]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

You miss my point. In most countries it’s not illegal to gut a fish with a sharp knife. It is illegal in many many countries to actually brandish a gun on a boat as you do not have the protection of castle doctrine laws.

Hence a gun in this case is a not a simple “ tool “ it’s a tool you can’t use legally and you could be subject to very serious penalties if you did use it in any manner. You either accept the laws of the host country , you can’t decide to be selective

Can I ask when you last checked firearms into the Bahamas

OK. Checked into the Bahamas last year. "Brandishing a firearm" (your statement). If there is a very desperate need for protection, I will use whatever Is available to protect those I am responsible for (like a child) on my boat. No one in their right mind brandishes firearms, knives, baseball bats, etc in a threatening way. Just because something is aboard, doesn't mean it will be brandished willy-nilly. I am old enough and rural enough to remember when firearms were just tools like every other tool. This stigma attached to them currently really confuses me. And the misinformation surrounding them is really a shame. I spent several years traveling Mexico's West Coast and the Sea of Cortez. It is possible to get in a very remote area where calling for help would be laughable and I was once approached by a fast boat while far out to sea. It was very disconcerting and helpless feeling. There would be no way to call for help. As a Captain, I take the safety of my passengers/guests (often children) very seriously. I used to be a Counselor for the Boy Scouts and would do mountain hiking training with children. Traveling in an area where a bear attacks were getting common and a child was killed the previous week, I was told I would not be allowed to carry a firearm into the wilderness while traveling with the children. I asked the parents what they wanted me to do if a bear attacked their child and I was told to bang pans together. I couldn't live the the possibility of seeing a child in my care being killed while I did basically nothing. I have a concealed carry permit. I put my pistol into my backpack. On that trip, we were charged by a mother bear, I pulled my pistol, shot twice into the ground in front of her and she came skidding to a stop and ran away. I got in a lot of trouble for saving those kids. We were several miles into the wilderness. Even a serious injury would have probably meant death. My rule now is; If I am responsible for you, I will do what I can to protect you. Period.

[Shanachie]

What some of my fellow Americans on this list don't get is that much of the civilized First World really dislikes the gun culture that is currently gripping the U.S.


Some 80 million adults own firearms out of about 260 million adults, less than a third of the population. The vast majority of them never fire a shot, except for occasional trips to the gun range. Hunting is on the wane.


For these people, guns serve as what I jokingly call penis extenders -- they want be overweight, out-of-shape suburbanites, but damn it, they can feel like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood when they're packing.'


In a way, that's no harm, nio foul.


But the lack of gun regulations also means that every mental, patient, redneck yahoo and inner-city thug has ready access to military-grade weaponry.


in 2021 we had 21,000 firearms deaths, another 24,000 firearm suicides, hundreds of thousands of nonfatal shootings and an average of two mass shootings a day.


Ultimately, this is a problem that Americans have to solve for themselves. But they also have to understand that the Bahamas and virtually everyone else has no interest in importing that gun culture.

[lestersails]

Pretty hilarious thread. The OPs question was answered probably 50 or 60 posts ago, but he just keeps flogging it. Nitpicking and argumentative about another country's laws just to fan the flames so he can continue his rants. I'm outta here.

[Dieseldude]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

What some of my fellow Americans on this list don't get is that much of the civilized First World really dislikes the gun culture that is currently gripping the U.S.


Some 80 million adults own firearms out of about 260 million adults, less than a third of the population. The vast majority of them never fire a shot, except for occasional trips to the gun range. Hunting is on the wane.


For these people, guns serve as what I jokingly call penis extenders -- they want be overweight, out-of-shape suburbanites, but damn it, they can feel like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood when they're packing.'


In a way, that's no harm, nio foul.


But the lack of gun regulations also means that every mental, patient, redneck yahoo and inner-city thug has ready access to military-grade weaponry.


in 2021 we had 21,000 firearms deaths, another 24,000 firearm suicides, hundreds of thousands of nonfatal shootings and an average of two mass shootings a day.


Ultimately, this is a problem that Americans have to solve for themselves. But they also have to understand that the Bahamas and virtually everyone else has no interest in importing that gun culture.

Nice to talk about how things should be in an ideal world where nobody will harm other people. But the reality is that in many parts of the world and in many situations you either have something to fight back with, or you need it.

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by lestersails

Pretty hilarious thread. The OPs question was answered probably 50 or 60 posts ago, but he just keeps flogging it. Nitpicking and argumentative about another country's laws just to fan the flames so he can continue his rants. I'm outta here.

But it was answered anecdotally and I think he wanted it in legal codes. The rest was rubbish.

Not an unreasonable request particularly since the legal code presented is in conflict with the anecdotal evidence.

Even entering USA I’ve found it valuable to carry a printed copy of the Federal Code since Customs relies on stories and PowerPoint presentations, and I’ve had to set them straight.


So far as I’m concerned OPs question has NOT been properly answered.

[Dieseldude]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

But it was answered anecdotally and I think he wanted it in legal codes. The rest was rubbish.

Not an unreasonable request particularly since the legal code presented is in conflict with the anecdotal evidence.

Even entering USA I’ve found it valuable to carry a printed copy of the Federal Code since Customs relies on stories and PowerPoint presentations, and I’ve had to set them straight.


So far as I’m concerned OPs question has NOT been properly answered.

I agree, OP did not get a real answer, It seems that the Bahamian consulate is the only official source, but they have ignored him for three weeks. It would not be wise to stake one's future on stories from an online forum. Probably, the best thing to do is pack a couple of flare guns and flares and go. But even flare guns might not be allowed in some places.