Dear George,
We are 5 years into a circumnavigation from the U.S.A. Presently our boat is in Malaysia.I am a retired journalist who spent much of my life covering conflicts around the world. The realities of guns and violence therefore are seared into my psyche. The decision to carry firearms onboard or not is indeed a life and death one and much more complicated than the logistics of legally or illegally having them aboard. What type of firearm would be appropriate? A shotgun? A pistol? A rifle? Where would it be stored? What are the scenarios where a gun would be beneficial versus a liability?The approach of a suspect vessel? The approach of a vessel brandishing weapons? A boarding at night by an unknown number of armed or unarmed persons while you are asleep? A crew member threatened with violence by armed intruders? Situations like these are fluid. Even trained and retrained law enforcement and most military people would have difficulty making good decisions in these scenarios. Overwhelming evidence has proven that if you pull out a gun in these situations, assuming you would have the opportunity to, your chances of becoming a victim of violence or harming an innocent person, yourself or crew included, is greater. The downside of a firearm aboard is simply too great for us. My many years of hostile environment training have educated me to avoid known hostile areas, use my brain to de-escalate situations, encourage thieves to take what they want and leave, go passive when provoked, and only as a last resort fight for your life with whatever is at hand. I write this as we are preparing to cruise the Northeast coast of Borneo, a known piracy area. However,we are doing so in an organized rally highly escorted by the Malaysian Navy. We will let the professionals have the guns.
–Craig & Karene White SV IL SOGNO
George,
We’re living as best we can to abide by local rules of places we visit, in our case Mexico right now. I’m a previous gun owner but we chose to get rid of those weapons and abide by local Mexican law (although there are ways foreigners can own guns legally in Mexico). As you mentioned, in several countries, if you use a gun even while being accosted, you may wind up being charged with serious crimes.
One thing we have done is install an old fashioned car alarm up the mast next to the steaming light and a flasher to the old halogen deck light with the ‘panic’ button located in our stateroom. If we’re boarded we’re able to turn this on and create an immense amount of noise and flashing light. In cases of areas where there are other boaters around we’re hopeful this attention will be enough to scare off the intruders.
–Chris Glubka SV SeaGlub
George,
I’m ex-military. I choose guns and good ammunition. Also good knives. If they weren’t invited aboard…they’re d….
–Steve Weckel
