https://youtu.be/ZQOAgsiH074

I don’t like to go around unarmed. But I do like to travel. To see my two daughters in the UK, eat French food in France and see a Broadway play in The Big Apple with my main squeeze, for example. Since I’ve joined The People of the Gun, I find myself less and less willing to leave Texas for states and countries where the government cancels my right to keep and bear arms. I’ve stopped traveling to California, my ex-home state of Rhode Island and ancestral South Africa. I used to love vacationing in Mexico. No mas. How about you? Are you avoiding states and countries where you can’t defend yourself by force of arms?

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77 COMMENTS

  2. I hate it, but I do travel to “safe” places. I get more upset travelling to places like Kalifornia or Nazi York or Neu Jersey because I’m still supposedly in a free country where the 2nd amendment is supposed to be operative. I went to Italy last summer, it was grand, only part I didn’t like was not being armed.

  3. I do not travel to foreign countries or unfriendly states, as bad guys do not make appointments to do bad guy deeds. Plenty of beautiful country to explore in the US and in gun friendly states, so that’s where I spend my money…

  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL7hvXeOAKw
    You cannot make this up. It’s funny I was thinking this same question earlier this year. But to answer this question: I’m less willing to travel to other countries, except maybe Japan or South Korea. I would definately love to visit Idaho someday though. I heard they have great potatoes.

    • I am thinking we need to make this a TTAK thing. Someone could call Brussels, get off of the media script, and record the whole thing.

  5. Funny that this is a post today. I just returned from some training to become an NRA certified instructor and I have to leave for cali tomorrow. Not looking forward to be disarmed, but it is a work thing so I have to go.

  6. I take massive risk just driving on the highways in America. I still travel the world. I am aware I will be unarmed (or armed with only a switchblade, which I usually travel with). However, the risk is small so it is worth it to me.

  7. I’m finding myself less inclined to do so, the latest terrorist attack in Brussels just reinforced that feeling. I understand that there’s no place that’s completely safe, but I at least want to be somewhere where I can have the opportunity to defend my family and myself.

  8. Foreign countries? Like Belgium? Yeah I ain’t goin’ there…man you guys are slow on the trigger. Chicago is bad enough.

  10. There’s no single right answer to this question. All of your rights are important and non-negotiable but you will never find a single place in the world, ever, that respects all of them at once because nowhere is perfect.

    For me, I’ll go where I wish to go while I’m still here on this Earth. Besides, I’ve always got a 4″ Cold Steel Spartan folder in my pocket. That’s got to be worth at least two .25 ACPs!

  11. I love international travel; I’ll be going to four different places around the world this year alone…..Mexico, Namibia/Botswana/Zambia, The Cook Islands, and Thailand. I’m not allowed to be (legally) armed in any of them, but the alternative is not to go, so…..

  12. I travel for work and pleasure and will continue to do so, unarmed if required by law. I don’t like it (and I like it less when it’e the US), but the risk of needing my gun in NYC or Paris is lower than the pleasure and/or opportunities I get from those trips. A trip out of the green zone now and then might kill you, but chances are it won’t.

    • I agree wholeheartedly. I don’t travel to other countries lately, but the only reason I have not is just the cost associated with it. When we save up some more money we will definitely return abroad

  13. Travel is important and rewarding. So not really. As a family we visited Yosemite a couple years ago in Commiefornia. It was great although I vowed next time to visit a part of the west that is still America.

    I have traveled extensively in foreign countries. More Americans should – Americans have a (sadly) well deserved reputation as mostly ignorant about countries other than their own. It shows in our foreign policy silliness. Gun rights and self defense are important but not a reason to stay at home.

    Personally I have a MUCH greater problem with bad US states like CA and NY when it comes to gun rights. After all the voters or jacked up state government in those states essentially stripped their citizens of their rights under the national constitution.

    • I won’t say most, but a lot of Americans are ignorant about their own country. Ignorance is teachable but stupid…..
      that’s forever.

  14. Love to travel. I’m planning some layovers in Europe during my next trip to Africa.
    Won’t go through Canada for the Alaska hunt. I’ll fly this time.
    Trying to get a hunt lined up in Texas, soon!

  15. In the last year I’ve been to New Jersey, New York, California, over-border to Canada, and overseas to Japan, as well as in my home state of Texas.

    In none of these places have I felt “unsafe”. But by far, by far, the safest was Japan.

    There’s places where the government tries to make you “feel” safe – like Brussels and France and the UK – which is a false sense of security. And then there’s places where you actually ARE safe, where there aren’t higher percentages of crazies and druggies and gang-bangers roaming the streets – like Japan. If someone is avoiding a place like Japan because they can’t take their gun there, well, that’s just a sad case of extreme paranoia.

    Mexico, on the other hand — no way in hell. I wouldn’t go there WITH a gun. Not going to Lebanon or Syria either.

    To tell the truth, I don’t necessarily “feel” all that safe in Texas either. I just have the ability to do something about it if something happens. The USA isn’t the “safest” country in the world, so if you’re going to live here, pick a state that lets you fight back if something bad does happen.

  17. I live in RI, our gun laws aren’t THAT tough. No registration, mag ban, AR-15 ban, universal background checks etc. We can’t own NFA Items but that is about it and you have a 7 day waiting period to purchase, but that is all I can thing off really think of (and I bypass the latter with a CCW permit).

    Is it because RI does not recognize your TX permit?

  18. I lived and worked in Asian countries for years which are disarmed
    The big difference is the law doesn’t pussyfoot around with criminals and the cultures are uniform enough so there isn’t as much racial tension although there is class division.
    Looking back maybe I was naive. Today I would hesitate to live in Hong Kong but Japan and Taiwan would still interest me. Korea has slipped in terms of safety and China is a mixed bag depending on where you are.
    The US is another story since gun bans create crime zones and the problems from central America are a walk away. Borders are fiercely enforced in Asia unlike Europe or north America.

    • Exactly. It’s risk versus reward. People commit crimes here in the US because they know if they get caught, they can BS it down to probation. Home invasion? No problem – after plea deals and time served, the kid is maybe in the can for less than 3 months.

      And yes, the unspoken truth is that in societies that are more homogenous, i.e. Japan, keeping people in line is easier since they all tend to have the same cultural values, especially after centuries of cultural conditioning. The Japanese lived in a feudal society for a long time, and their subservient attitude towards authority makes it easier to keep them in line with harsh penalties for misbehaving.

      Here in the US, we specifically had a war to not have a feudal society. Couple that with our relatively open borders and immigration policies and there’s friction between groups, which does lead to violence.

      • Idiots think Japan is safe because it’s gun free. Nope. 98% conviction rates and snitches get stitches doesn’t translate well in nihon go.
        But more than that there is honor, shame, and responsibilities ingrained from an early age. Forget that in the US.
        Most Asian language have honorific styles that set the tone between people. Compare that to street talk here.
        And if you think life is hard in India or China just imagine the prison. Shawshank Redemption doesn’t come close.

  19. Yup. If certain states or countries don’t want me I’m fine with that. Not that I can say I have ever felt a wanderlust or draw to travel anyway. Travel has always been an ordeal. Work. I hate it and don’t do it anymore. For any reason.

  20. I like to travel. But some places I won’t go, no matter what… Even in my home state.

  22. I’ve been contemplating sending this to Gov. Christy. Any thoughts?

    My wife and I have a dilemma. We have reached that time in our lives where we must take care of those who have loved and raised us. My father is now 94 years old and his health is failing. A veteran Merchant Marine officer of WWII and 35 year Grumman Engineer, he never wanted his children to be burdened in his twilight years. My father lives in West Caldwell, NJ. My wife and I live in Virginia. We, like many Americans, are supported by our state in the exercise of our natural, civil, and Constitutionally protected right to self-defense. We have both served our country and are honorably discharged US Navy veterans. We have raised 5 children and lost 1. We have never been arrested. We are decent law abiding people just trying to keep our heads down and get along as best we can. And yet we now have a dilemma. We will be travelling the Eastern Shore from Virginia to northern New Jersey. Our travels will takes us through both Delaware and Maryland. As I always do prior to travel, I research all of the state laws and reciprocity agreements. Virginia recognizes Delaware. Delaware does not recognize Virginia. Virginia and Maryland do not recognize each other. Virginia does not recognize New Jersey and New Jersey does not recognize any other state. Of course, while transiting through states, we are covered by federal law for the transport of firearms, so long as we do not stay overnight and the firearms are properly stored. However, since our final destination is New Jersey, we are now faced with a choice. Do we give up our 2nd Amendment rights and place ourselves in harm’s way in three states with higher violent crime rates than Virginia(1) with no means of protection or do we risk being ensnared in New Jersey’s web of gun control laws?
    We would be of no use to my father if we are both dead. And certainly we would be of no use to my father if we are in jail. Governor McAuliffe was recently placed in a dilemma. Our Attorney General attacked those of us who are the most law abiding of our citizens. He chose to essentially gut our concealed carry reciprocity agreements. Governor McAuliffe heard the outcry of his fellow citizens and wisely reached across the aisle to stop this injustice. He and our state Republicans hammered out an amicable deal to meet the needs of all our citizens. A compromise, for the common good. I beseech you sir to do the same. I stood behind you in your bid for the presidency. I watched your interviews with your family and could easily see the love you have for them. I heard the wise words you spoke about how to reasonably move this nation into the future and I believed you were an excellent candidate. I ask you now to fix New Jersey’s firearms laws. None of these draconian and, in my humble opinion, unconstitutional statutes inhibit crime in any way. But what they definitely do, as you are all too familiar with, is ensnare otherwise lawful citizens and ruin lives. The Brady Campaign 2013 State Scorecard (Why Gun Laws Matter) lists New Jersey 3rd best in the nation behind California and Connecticut. Yet, as 20th, Virginia experiences less murders, including firearm related murders, per capita than both California and New Jersey. Groups like the Brady Campaign blame guns for crime and ignore all of the social, political, and economic factors which have significant impacts on crime rates. Connecticut’s relatively low murder rates have remained unchanged from before Newtown. Their April, 2013 enacted gun laws have had no effect on their crime rates and will not stop the next Sandy Hook. Both New York and Connecticut’s post Newtown gun control laws have had one major effect. It is estimated that the percentage of firearms owners who chose not to register their “assault weapons” and “large” capacity magazines exceeds 90% in both states. Of New York’s 63 counties, 52 have approved resolutions to oppose the SAFE Act. Governor Cuomo’s signature gun control act to keep his fellow citizens safe from gun crime has resulted in no net effect on crime in his state and has alienated 82.5% of his counties.
    Governor, we are not particularly politically active people. My life philosophy is live and let live. Yet never before have had I felt compelled to wrestle with consciously violating a law which I know to be unjust while balancing obviously serious personal consequences. What would you do to protect your loved ones? Would you bring your firearm if you were in my position? And how would you feel if harm came to them and you left it behind? We sir are simple common folk. We do not have bodyguards to keep us safe. And we accept the simple truth that no one else is responsible for our own safety. To us, firearms are simply a tool just like a fire extinguisher. You hope you never need one, but if you need one and don’t have one you may never need one again.
    I ask you to stand up for what is right and just. I ask you to stand up to those who would strip good, decent, and honest citizens of their rights. I ask you to reach across the aisle, as you have so many times in the past, and fix New Jersey.

    Constitution of the United States: Amendment 2 – Right to Bear Arms
    A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

    Virginia: Article 1, Section 13.
    That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

    New Jersey:
    No Constitutional Provision on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. New Jersey Constitution, Art. 1, § 1, does guarantee certain “unalienable” rights, including “defending life,” “protecting property,” and “pursuing and obtaining safety.”

    (1) FBI Crime Statistics, Table 20 (2013)
    United States (Ave) 3.87 2.67 1.20 Brady Campaign (2013) Rating
    Murder Rating
    1=Highest
    50=Lowest State Total Murders (per 100k) Firearm Murders (per 100k) Non Firearm Murders (per 100k) 1=Highest
    50=Lowest
    2 Maryland 6.39 4.52 1.87 6
    21 Delaware 4.21 3.56 0.65 11
    19 New Jersey 4.51 3.27 1.24 3
    18 California 4.55 3.19 1.36 1
    23 Virginia 3.81 2.72 1.09 20
    34 Connecticut 2.39 1.67 0.72 2

    • Well, good luck with that letter. And I sincerely mean it. I think Christie is more focused on what potential cabinet role he will fill if Trump wins. I have toyed with writing a similar letter while here in Kommiefornistan, but now I’m biding my time for a summer move to a friendlier state.

  23. I’m not that worried about security when I travel, or even when I’m at home. I refuse to live in fear, armed or unarmed. I choose not to live in, stay in, or go to areas that aren’t fairly safe and because no place is 100% safe, I keep my SA up all the time and always try to have options for evasion and some kind of weapon, even if it’s a rock.

    I carry a gun more to exercise a right I want to see preserved. Actually using a gun in self-defense is a possibility, but a worst-case possibility I will avoid if I can. But I literally traveled around the world in the Navy. There is no place I would trade for the US. I don’t like being a tourist, anyplace. If I want an adventure, I’ll take a tour on my motorcycle down some highway I’ve never been down in my home state.

    Plus, I just don’t like other countries. The don’t recognize the Constitution and they’re full of foreigners who don’t speak good English! Oh, wait, I had that confused with NY and NJ. Nevermind….

  24. No fear in travelling. The reward is worth the risk and I’m certainly not going to live in fear. I’m taking my wife to Paris, Brugge, and London next week and while we’ll be wary we won’t be paralyzed by fear.

    It’s different in the US. I’ve stopped travelling to Chicago.

  25. I would like to re-visit Ireland and the U K. I was deeply saddened on my last visit to see an armed Bobby by Hyde Park. There used to be a “gentleman’s agreement” between the English underworld and law enforcement. Neither side used guns, and if a criminal broke that rule, the underworld would help the police find and arrest him. As the population changed, that agreement became obsolete.
    Living in NJ, and spending a lot of time in CA and NY, has numbed me to being without a gun. There are several other legal tools of defense, and I carry them as a poor substitute.
    I am most comfortable in Vermont, where I exercise “constitutional carry”. Ironically, that is the state where I am in the least personal danger.

    • “I am most comfortable in Vermont, where I exercise “constitutional carry”. Ironically, that is the state where I am in the least personal danger.”

      Only liberals think that’s ironic. The rest of us understand it as the natural result of freedom.

      • “Only liberals think that’s ironic. The rest of us understand it as the natural result of freedom.”

        Exactly. The (cruel) irony is that I may only be legally armed where I am in the least danger, Vermont. The law forbids it in such dangerous places as Newark, Camden, Asbury Park, etc.

  26. Foreign countries avoid me.

    Not once has the UK come to visit. Not even Canada, and they’re only a 4-hour drive away.

      • Canada is above us. So they’ll be driving down hill. That should help their speed and gas milage.

        • Canadians have the same advantage Treebeard remarked on, ” I always like going South; somehow, it feels like going downhill.”

  27. Yes. I work in the video-game business, and as such I have watched my prospects for employment dwindle in direct proportion to my tolerance for State disarmament stupidity.

    I still travel, being willing to take chances on places I visit, that I am not with the places I live and work.

  28. I have the travel bug – big time. I’m just spreading my wings and getting out there. I would prefer it if the people in my temporary host country had gun rights, and if I had gun rights there as well, but that’s not current reality.
    I was just in Antigua and Barbuda – I had to defer a visit to their newly reopened sporting clays range twice due to police unavailability. Why? Because their over-under shotguns have to remain in possession of the local constabulary and are brought to the range BY APPOINTMENT.

  29. Yes. I fear being in a dangerous situation, such as the Bataclan Theater where innocents were mercilessly gunned down in Paris. However, my greater fear is being in such a situation and having my last thought be “If only I had my gun.” For that reason, I avoid travel to places where I can’t carry a firearm. For the same reason, I now ignore gun-free zone signs in my home state.

  30. Turned down a job from a company that laid me off but then returned while I was unemployed with an offer for Australia. Socialism and no guns…..I got some WTF comments from friends. They just don’t understand……

  31. I hate leaving the US. Thankfully Cali and Jersey borders are pretty far from here, and there’s a nice safe area, 40 states worth, in the middle that still falls under most of the Constitution.

  32. Business travel is what it is and I have to go, even to California. Last year’s travels for business took me to six other U.S. states and Canada. Risks exist, but they’re extremely low, given the nature of the trips. It’s basically airport, hotel, worksites, and direct ground transportation in between. There’s minimal mingling with local day-to-day life, so exposure is very low.

    Last year’s pleasure travels took us to Mexico, Honduras and Belize. We stuck to planned tourist activities in heavily guarded (by military, not local police) areas, specifically because of security concerns. In foreign countries, I’m as much wary of their corrupt governments as I am their rampant crime.

    We travel about Texas freely, though, which is itself very diverse.

  33. I have lived in backwoods Quebec (6 months), Paris (6 months), South Baja (4 years), and Puerto Vallarta (1 year). I don’t intend to live outside the US again. Switzerland is the only other country I’d even consider (if I spoke French and German). I don’t much feel like even traveling outside the US anymore.

  34. Yes. I don’t stay home exclusively, but being disarmed does play into my decisions. I recently returned from a visit to friends in KA, where I kept my loaded, holstered gun in the trunk, and felt naked for a week or so. And I am sure even that is horrendously illegal, probably more so than robbing a stop and rob.

    • If you mean Kansas, they recognize all permits and are an open carry state. I don’t see why you disarmed because you were there. Kansas is one of those states that are more firearms friendly than Texas.

      • Sometimes California is derisively written as Kommiefornia. I figured that’s what he meant and that KA would be the state abbreviation for that version.

    • The PRK requires guns in cars to be unloaded and in a locked container (the trunk will do, unless your car has a pass-through from the passenger compartment (like rear seats that fold down). You COULD have kept the gun loaded in your hotel room or friends’ house (with their permission).

  35. At least until recently, the foreign places i traveled to were relatively safe I was also there as a public servant and was authorized to a carry firearm if I felt I needed one I didn’t not because it’s more of a hassle than the risk I faced. If I traveled to certain Third World you betcha I would have been packing. My foreign travel today is mostly to Canada so I will live by their laws.

    I take a different view of States that infringe on my right to bear arms. I don’t vacation there because I am “sending them a message.” If you don’t follow the Constitution then you don’t get my money.

  36. No, there are places I would or wouldn’t go both in the us and abroad. The alternative is to be ignorant of the world. More Americans should travel. Then you can come and know what you are talking about

  37. Well. i live in alameda county CA so I’m disarmed. Except for my kershaw knife and charming personality. My job takes me into Oakland and other less than first world places daily.

    If I can survive unarmed there I can survive unarmed in Paris or London.

    Haven’t planned any trips to Astan or the Mog. I no longer have Uncle Sam as my travel agent so I can avoid the real shit holes.

  38. 5spot
    Yes Australian government tends to be socialist but nowhere as bad as California when I worked there.
    As I am looking at another rifle today and plus another 10 gun safe I would disagree that you can’t own guns here

  40. I was stationed in Germany from ’03-’06, and I loved every minute of it. I lived on the economy, and visited nearly every surrounding nation during my time there (including Ukraine, Italy, and Ireland). But I noticed the growing numbers of hajis even back then, and there were definitely no-go areas in larger German & French cities. While I originally regretted not doing a European-out when the time came for my ETS, now I’m rather glad I came back stateside. And while I was planning on making a return trip to Germany a few years ago, those plans are on an indefinite hold.

    • Wife is German. Originally, our plan if things in the U.S. went to hell (and, really, they have – I’m just a working class guy living in an ungated community; I know a lot of you guys are upper class whites, but, man, shit is bad for us regular guys, really), was to head back to Europe. Anyway – my sweigebruder (spelling?) was telling me the other day about how alot of women were getting raped by Muslims (he is in the west rine north falen area), but they are afraid to say anything about it because they get called Nazis. It is just really depressing.

      • I’m just a working class guy living in an ungated community;
        So are most other people. What makes you think you are safer in a gated community? I would look at a safer community.
        was to head back to Europe.
        Why? Ditch the Black and Hispanic crime and the USA “gun crime” falls to the level of Finland.
        Wife is German.
        So are many small Mid-West communities. She should be right at home.

  41. I used to travel internationally extensively for my job, but now that I no longer have to, I no longer have any desire to leave the U.S. Heck, I don’t even like going to states that don’t have CC reciprocity with mine!

  42. I only travel with any regularity to UT, MO, and TX. To get to these states, I drive through CO, OK, and maybe WY. The only state that ever gives me pause to travel through is CO, because of their magazine size limit, and the requirement that, if passing through Denver, a round *not* be carried in the chamber. It’s an inconvenience, but not so much that I reroute entirely around it. I just had to spend 40$ on a 10-round mag for my EDC. Annoying.

    That said, there’s a possibility that I may have to move to CA in the not-too-distant future, and honestly, I would rather poke an eye out. I also travel to Brazil with some regularity, and with it being as unsafe as it is, I’m not crazy about being unarmed while I’m there. I carry a switchblade with easy access, but it’s just not the same. Thankfully, I know enough about the place to avoid any obviously dangerous areas, and I don’t get singled out as a “tourist” because I speak the language sans accent. But it’s far from a preferable situation. I don’t have the resources to travel to any other countries, but if I did, I’d probably feel on edge my whole time there until I was back home with my EDC on my hip.

  43. No?

    I carry on the off-chance that if something happens, I have the option of doing something other than “wait to die”. But I’m not going to let that be the sole factor of how I live literally every other part of my life. You miss out on a lot of enjoyment that way.

  44. I do not like travelling outside the country… way too much hassle. My wife is in Ireland right now and she called me this morning to tell me how freaked out everyone is about the brussels attack. She supposed to be in London tomorrow, but is rethinking that.

  45. Question:
    Is there a single country in the world that would legally allow a person from another country to carry?
    (I’m not talking about countries allowing hunters in to extract money for the privilege of shooting local game. I’m talking about carrying for self defense.)
    Next question:
    What happens in other countries when a ‘foreigner’ uses a firearm in self defense?

    These are important questions to consider before traveling, eh?

  46. I absolutely stay out of other countries and states that will imprison me for the “crime” of having the means to defend myself and my family.

    And even if I were not concerned about taking a firearm with me, I will no longer travel to Mexico.

    • Ohio has very good carry laws, and the most widely-accepted reciprocity arrangements nationwide.

      There are a couple things that I’d change, but overall, I can’t complain.

      There’s been a push for Constitutional carry and I think we’ll get there eventually.

      • Ohio has very good carry laws, and the most widely-accepted reciprocity arrangements nationwide.
        Since when?
        Ohio reciprocity sucks.
        States that do not recognize Indiana Concealed Carry Reciprocity are:
        California, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New York City, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virgin Islands, Washington, West Virginia

  48. Damn right. I spend my time and money in The United (Free) States, If I want to go where people hate me I’ll go to NYC.

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