Next message: Keith: "Re: lv-ab: documentation number"
=I personally would carry a gun and hope never to use it, but how
=do you get
=through countries like Mexico where (I have heard) they will lock you up
=for having one?
Yeah, that's the sticky wicket, isn't it? Especially in countries that take
guns from the boat for the duration of your stay. If you don't declare it
and use it, it will be hard to lawyer your way out it in a foreign country.
If you do give it up and then need it, then you're in not much better shape,
not to mention the hassle of checking-in in one place and giving up your
guns and then checking out several hundred miles downwind. How do you get
them back?
Some countries will bond your guns on board, going so far as to count every
round of ammunitions and seal it all in a locker. Then they'll check the
seal as you depart--or forget to check the seal as you depart. It's hard to
know.
But keep this in mind, if you ever use it in self defense you'll end up in a
foreign court that may not pattern itself on American style jurisprudence.
The vicious animal you put down will, to a jury of HIS peers, be portrayed
as a solid citizen of the community, man of god, good husband, father and
provider, etc. whose untimely death at the hands of the rich, trigger happy,
Americano was uncalled for and was just a misunderstanding of the guy's good
intentions on your part. The grieving wife, six kids and both sets of
parents will appear to remind the court that ol Don Pedro was the family's
sole support. You'll be lucky if all you lose is your boat. Gives me the
willies just thinking about it.
We carry an array of effective but non-lethal devices aboard, avoid known
trouble spots, and try to travel or at least anchor in groups. But you've
got to keep this in prospective. You're still a lot safer cruising than
you'd be living in most big cities. It's the fact that these events are so
rare that makes them noteworthy.
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