Packing Heat Aboard: Guns On Boats

Ernest Hemingway aboard Pilar in 1935.

One thing is for sure, there are as many different cruising styles as there are cruisers. And there are few subjects as polarizing (and differentiating) as whether or not you carry a gun aboard.

Let me say something that's probably obvious to anyone who follows us or knows us personally: we DO NOT have a gun aboard, nor have we ever seriously considered it. I will also say that I do have a military background (in the Army National Guard) and enjoyed using firearms during my military tenure. Twenty-five years ago, I was a pretty good shot, qualifying "expert" with a .45 pistol and a respectable "sharpshooter" with the M-16.

My observation is that when the subject of carrying a gun aboard comes up among cruisers (and it rarely does), the lines are drawn two ways: First, it is almost exclusively an American thing. French, British, Canadians -- none of them seem ever to have given the subject much thought. The second line is politics, which like it or not, follows us out to sea. If you were pro-gun at home, you are more likely to carry a weapon aboard, although many people that fit that description still don't.

For us, nothing that's happened in the past 19 months of cruising could change our minds on this subject. We practice avoidance. There are a few dodgy spots in the Caribbean. We avoid them. And, we've never had the slightest problem. I might add that we have that in common with the vast majority of cruisers, at least as far as I can tell. If you carry a firearm aboard, I'm willing to bet you are in a relatively small minority. Not a scientific survey, but one gets a pretty good sense.

Aren't you scared of pirates, you ask? Pose the question among Caribbean cruisers and it will elicit a chuckle or maybe a belly laugh (depending on the number of Gin & Tonics involved). Those silly landlubbers. Again, would I be concerned if I were traveling between Trinidad and Venezuela? Yes, but that's just one of the reasons we didn't sail that route.

Didn't you get robbed, you ask? As for our robbery in Grenada, it occurred (as these things typically do) while we were away from the boat. Let's be straight: that's not piracy, it's burglary. Even if we had been aboard, I cannot imagine using a weapon to stop a burglary that resulted in the loss of a few hundred U.S. dollars.

You're going to point to that attack a few years ago in St. Vincent when a cruising couple was assaulted by a machete-wielding youth. Or, the assault in Grenada at the same time we were there last year. But here's the thing: the first attack was repelled (non-lethally) with another knife and the second started with a gun pointed at a cruiser on a beach.

Unless you intend on violating local law (and the consequences can be quite harsh), you will not have your peacemaker at your side while ashore. In fact, on most islands your shipboard weapon will either be held by customs officials until you depart (requiring you to check it in at each port), or sealed aboard your vessel.

That significantly narrows the possibilities for using a firearm as self defence. Cross off using it ashore and put a dotted line through the option of using it aboard, either at anchor or in a marina. That leaves only offshore and underway. I'd invite you to check the stats on how often that scenario presents itself. I can spare you the trouble -- hardly ever.

Here's a good (though perhaps slightly dated) breakdown of the laws in the Caribbean and elsewhere as regard firearms and boats.

I am but one data point in this never-ending discussion. What I can say is that when it comes to personal safety, cruising is pretty much what I thought it would be when we untied the dock lines on the Magothy River, i.e., something to be concerned about but not obsessed over.

Is it just a coincidence that our initial perceptions have panned out? I sort of doubt it. We are out here to enjoy new places and new cultures. For us, carrying a gun aboard does not square with that.

Here's a few other perspectives from:

Sailing Totem
Cygnus III
Yachting World
Huffington Post