5320.20 question for an extended trip

[Willie Sutton]

Packing up my boat for a 6 month cruise, and of course we are equipped to repel boarders. Handy in the cabin is a SBR, which for form-factor and defensive capabilty is a perfect piece of maritime emergency equipment.

Without rehashing "you need to know the state laws where you'll be traveling" and "be sure not to take it overseas because you can't re-import it back in to the USA" advice (thanks in advance for offering it), how do you describe to the BATFE that you'll be driving from "x" to "y" then boarding your boat to cruise thru states "a, b, c, and d" and then returning "sometime next spring".?


Willie

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[Torian]

Packing up my boat for a 6 month cruise, and of course we are equipped to repel boarders. Handy in the cabin is a SBR, which for form-factor and defensive capabilty is a perfect piece of maritime emergency equipment.

Without rehashing "you need to know the state laws where you'll be traveling" and "be sure not to take it overseas because you can't re-import it back in to the USA" advice (thanks in advance for offering it), how do you describe to the BATFE that you'll be driving from "x" to "y" then boarding your boat to cruise thru states "a, b, c, and d" and then returning "sometime next spring".?


Willie

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Must be quite the boat for a six month haul! Jealous.

I not qualified to offer advice here, but I have heard that maritime laws (depending on how far out you are going) can be quite a hassle for us.

 

[Willie Sutton]

For certain you do not want to visit a foreign port, even if that nation permits NFA arms. There is no mechanism for an individual to re-import a NFA item once exported. On the high seas without making a foreign port call, you have not exported it so you are not reimporting it.

My travels will be domestic in nature, a coastal cruising voyage, bypassing unfriendly state waters by staying offshore and outside of state jurisdictions that are NFA unfriendly when passing them. It's nice to have 500 gallons of water and a year of food aboard ...


Willie

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[357Shooter]

I spent 5 years cruising on a Shannon 43 Ketch and sailed approx 23,000 miles.
My advice would be store your NFA items at home, you can run into hassles even with your plans not to go foreign. What if you decide to go to the Bahamas, Mexico, or whatever when you get into your trip? Why limit yourself because of a few firearms? I carried a Marine 12g, a few SS S&W 357's, a Ruger Mini 14 and a few thousand rounds of ammo, never felt under gunned and found you never really do much shooting from the boat. The environment is so hard on guns to begin with and if you do have encounters with the USCG, I think you'll find it much better with "Standard" weapons than NFA stuff.
Just my experience....
BTW, have a great trip, if it's your first, you'll never regret taking it!

 

[Jim K]

I guess I am alone in not seeing any reason to court trouble. Why would you insist that you absolutely have to have an NFA firearm for protection? What real benefit would you gain/lose if the barrel were 16+ inches instead of the 14 or whatever it is now?

Maybe I don't see the problem. It doesn't look like you would be in danger of being boarded by heavily armed Somali pirates, so a marine shotgun would seem to be better than an SBR in most SD cases, and it is not likely there would be any problems having it on board. One or two handguns also probably would not be a problem in other than a few states, and you know what those are, plus they would easily be stowed away.

Jim

 

[Willie Sutton]

Let me gently rephrase this: The following might be a more common reason to do a multi-state, multi-month trip with a SBR, but it's exactly the same question phrased a bit differently.

"Has anyone travelled with their Recreational Vehicle for a trip taking several months and carried a SBR with them? How did you fill out your 5320.20 and how did the BATFE respond?"


I've lived aboard boats full time for about half of my life, so it's not the first trip or the last. I'm more or less a full time live-aboard, and where my boat is, my home is. I like my guns... I carry them with me and I shoot where I please. My SBR is fun to shoot, and is quiet ;-) ... so I want to bring it. It's not all I have aboard either. Glad to find other cruisers here. Where did you take the Shannon? I'm a simple Diesel-Cruiser, 42 Grand Banks. The Tortugas are about as far as I'll get this trip. I've no intent to run to the Bahamas this year.




"Why would you insist that you absolutely have to have an NFA firearm for protection?"

You're right. Nobody needs a NFA firearm for any reason. We should support banning them... ;-)



I need only the reason "I own them because it pleases me, and because the 2nd Amendment permits me to do so, and because I have paid my tax stamp and now want to freely enjoy my personal property". Besides, shooting a suppressed SBR at tin cans now and then is just plain fun.



Thanks,


Willie


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[357Shooter]

Well Willie, that now makes some sense! LOL
My last 5320 only took about 10 days to get so I would suggest either a call to your regional ATF Office or the National ATF Office and explain what you want to do, I would imagine without much trouble you will get a satisfactory answer, which may include a letter from them, which would be the best. I've found the ATF very easy to deal with and also very helpful, hope you have as good luck as I have.

On the other note, I picked the Shannon up in Bristol, RI where I had it built, did mostly the ditch to FL then the Bahamas, then West Indies and back up to Bermuda, the back across to Long Island and Bristol for some work, then down the East Coast again to Key West, opened a few bars there in a marina and then the Bahamas, Mexico, Central America, back to the Keys and then South Fl. Now in the Great Smoky Mountains, riding Harleys and shootin guns!

Have a good trip, hope the advise helps some, if not good luck anyway!

 

[Willie Sutton]

^^ Sounds like a great trip. Bristol RI is a wonderful place, especially if you appreciate Herreshof boats. I've kept boats in Narragansett for 35 years and have cruised from Canada to North Carolina. This is the first trip south, be a ditch-trip except for the direct run from Point Judith to Cape Henlopen, in order to avoid CT, NY, and NJ.

I'll ping my local BATFE and see what they say.


Willie


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[357Shooter]

Hey Willie,
I'm just curious if you got any resolution with a call to the BATF
Scott

 

[Willie Sutton]

Haven't even had a moment to call, been totally saturated. I'll post a SITREP when I get an answer though, it probably would be of interest to other long-term travelers.


Willie

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