Carry a Gun on Board?

[lorenzo b]

The short answer is that it's a Sanskrit mantra that actually means nothing, which is exactly the point. Say it quietly to yourself all day long and you'll meet the BIG FISH.

The long answer would take far too long and entail subjects tabu to this forum.

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

The long answer would take far too long and entail subjects tabu to this forum.

You mean like Gun Control? The list of Countries gun laws pretty much speaks for itself. If you really want to read about a scary place with alot of rapes and murders, look at any of the local papers in New Jersey...I dont know how I've lasted so long without an arsenal!

BTW, I do appreciate the fact that most citizens of other countries believe cruisers from the USA are armed. Thanks gun owners!

[lorenzo b]

It's important to keep in mind when comparing crime rates in various cities or countries that crime statistics are not compiled in a consistent manner. Many tourist attractions like New Orleans are notorious for under reporting crime while places like L.A. report every crime.

[John A]

I'll return to the original question that started this thread.
From the spring of 2002 to the spring of 2009, I singlehandled and island hopped back and forth between PR and Trinidad, that's seven years of visiting every major island and several minor ones fourteen times.
Every country I checked into wanted to know if I had any guns and the number of bullets onboard. I have heard that most if not all islands required you to place your gun in bond, but not having any guns I can't verify this. I'd suggest that if you didn't declare your gun and then had to use it, that you being the foreigner would have a level of officialdom to address before justification for its use would be decussed.

As I've said before, I sailed the Eastern Caribbean as well as Central America and the Bahamas and never had any problems where a gun was needed. My hatches were always open, my dinghy seldom locked, I alway anchored out, sometimes I'd be the only boat in a remote bay were locals lived onshore.
You must be 'street smart'.
I enjoyed the adventure of cruising and a part of the experience was to meet and mingle with the locals, to swap stories, to share a beer, and to understand their lives. Not to hide on my boat with a gun in mistrust and suspicion of the third world countries and the locals. It was more enjoyable.
kindest regards John A

ps. getting stupid in gun threads is kind of fun though.

[MarkJ]

One of the reasons why I don't like guns is that too many nutter have them.

The Australian media is full of nutter gun stories... they all come from the USA. So I get a dread feeling if I see a gun not associate with an official uniform whilst on official duty.



Gun-toting football mother, husband found shot dead
October 9, 2009 - 7:03AM
Meleanie Hain .. found dead at home. Photo: AP


An American mother-of-three who gained national notoriety after she openly carried a loaded handgun to her daughter's football game was shot dead along with her husband in what police say appears to be a murder-suicide.

Meleanie Hain, 31, and Scott Hain 33, were pronounced dead shortly after 8.30pm local time on Wednesday at their home in Lebanon, a small city about 130 kilometres west of Philadelphia.

The couple's three children - a 10-year-old boy and girls aged two and six - were home at the time but weren't hurt, police said. They were taken to stay with friends and relatives.

Some neighbours told the Lebanon Daily News they heard or saw the children running from the house and screaming "Daddy shot Mommy!" shortly before the emergency centre was alerted.

[Christian Van H]

You're lucky I dont own a gun Mark! If I had to look at that picture for one more second I would have shot myself! Good Lord man...I'm gonna carry that PICTURE for self defense! I think I'll have it laminated...

[osirissail]

- - There of course, nuts everywhere in the world, the USA just enjoys publicizing them more. In Latin countries, shoot outs over girls, drugs, etc. are an everyday occurence that does not make the news unless it is a slow day. One of the news articles on Rio and the Olympics mentioned that they have 80 murders a day there - normally.
- - Specifically to having a firearm on a cruising boat, I have noticed over the years that about 10% carry weapons on board. But even they say they have never used them or even been tempted to use them. And the checking-in/out is a real hassle in some places.
- - However, there are areas in the Caribbean Basin where I would not sail without high powered weapons on board. These are the "active pirate areas" and rather than put up with the hassles of having a firearm on board, I just avoid going to those areas. In my experiences, there are more "good" places to spend your time and money than venturing into the "bad" places.

[sandy daugherty]

My sailing club shoots off at least 60 pistol flares every year at a fully authorized training session for new members. I promise you could hit a person at ten feet. At twenty feet I promise you can't. At forty feet, you have a 4:1 chance of hitting a boat. At any distance you can count on someone firing back, with something far more accurate and deadly, and no hesitation. Put the flare gun down, and back away from bad places.

p.s. These threads are started by the ATF to see if there are any new gun junkies to put on their list.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by osirissail

One of the news articles on Rio and the Olympics mentioned that they have 80 murders a day there - normally.

It would be interesting to see your source on this item, osirissail, as it is certainly incorrect. The murder rate for Rio de Janeiro is reported as 33 per 100,000 or 2640 per year for the city of 8 million. That works out to just under 7.25 per day. I wonder if your source didn't mean to print 8 per day and inadvertantly slipped in an extra zero.

TaoJones

[osirissail]

Could very well be 8/day, I read the article quickly and then again the news services are not too tight about checking their sources either. They normally just pick up what somebody said and print it. That was why I said a "news article" rather than just state a number. In your own reading - be careful to observe the adjective, adverbs and modifiers - most people do not and only see the nouns. Politicians are masters of this art of using modifiers that their constituents totally ignore.
Official numbers are also highly inaccurate as an awful lot of such deaths are never reported. It is commonly reported that places like Rio, NYC, Chicago, and other major cities have areas that are very dangerous. How the government officials deal with this to provide protection for the the Olympics will be interesting to see.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

It would be interesting to see your source on this item, osirissail, as it is certainly incorrect. The murder rate for Rio de Janeiro is reported as 33 per 100,000 or 2640 per year for the city of 8 million. That works out to just under 7.25 per day. I wonder if your source didn't mean to print 8 per day and inadvertantly slipped in an extra zero.
TaoJones

Crime rates, especially for homicide, are notoriously difficult to compile, and nearely impossible to compare, with any assured accuracy.

Rio de Janeiro is a State, as well as a City.

The homicides rate in Brazil has fallen from 28 per 100,000 people, in 2001, to 26.9 in 2004. This represents a 3.9% reduction, although the murder rate is still very high.
In Rio, the index was 42 in 2004.
In comparison, according to the FBI, homicides rate is the US in 2004 was 5.5 per 100,000 people.
In Brazil, homicide is the main cause of death for men between the ages of 15 and 44. As a way of comparing homicides rates in the UK, the US and Brazil, the World Health Organization has presented the following gradation: if the United Kingdom gets weight 1, the United States would be 6 and Brazil, 27.
The Brazilian numbers come from Brazil's Informatics Department of the Unified Health System (DataSUS) and 2004 is the last year for which there are statistics.

Rio 21/day ➥ Dangerous Cities - Associated Content - Topic - associatedcontent.com

Brazil 131/day ➥ Dangerous Cities - Associated Content - Topic - associatedcontent.com

Most dangerous towns in the world:
➥ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-e6freuz9-1225

The Mexican city Ciudad Juarez is featured on number 1, with 130 murders per 100.000 habitants.
The ranking continues:
2. Caracaz, Venezuela
3. New Orleans, United States
4. Tijuana, Mexico
5. Cape Town, South Africa
6. Port Moresby, Paua New Guinea
7. San Salvador, El Salvador
8. Medelin, Colombia
9. Baltimore, United States
10. Bagdad, Irak

[TaoJones]

The following is my source for the 33/100,000 figure I used: Rio's crime rate could hamper Olympic bid in Brazil | Sports & Recreation > Amateur Sports from AllBusiness.com It carries a dateline of September 19,2009.

TaoJones

[Therapy]

the USA just enjoys publicizing them more.

Yea, we live with the freedom of speech thing.

Originally Posted by GordMay

the World Health Organization has presented the following gradation: if the United Kingdom gets weight 1, the United States would be 6 and Brazil, 27.

Thanks Gord.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Perception also plays a part. Thailand for example is usually seen as being very safe by visitors (if not safer than Disneyland ), the fact the murder rate is a lot higher than even the USA comes as a surprise (I only use the USA as a commonly understood benchmark). Although ironically the reason why most tourist areas are far safer than the average is linked to the reasons for the high murder rate, and the public / private partnership that is "organised" around business interests in the areas, at a number of levels. But of course most folks are "like us" and have no interest or desire in forcibly parting folk from their valuables. or body parts

Maybe Brazil will be taking a similar pro active approach for the Olympics?, I beleive the Govt / business "interests" has form in that part of the world...........

[Tspringer]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I get a dread feeling if I see a gun not associate with an official uniform whilst on official duty.

And yet the number of people shot by "nutters"... that being free individuals who own a gun legally and then freak out and use it to shoot someone illegally... is FAR FAR lower by many orders of magnitude than the number of people shot by guys in official uniforms on official duty.

Governments run armies who over the past 100 years have killed by the hundreds of millions. THAT is gun violence. A well armed populace is the best means of preventing this from happening.

The vast majority of gun crimes in the US are committed by individuals who own the gun illegally. Gun laws do not have any impact on such individuals... they are criminals. Criminals dont care if they are breaking the law by owning a gun. Gun laws only limit the ability of free, law abiding citizens to be armed. Gun control laws create gun victims, pure and simple.



Terry