Quote:
Originally Posted by s&wchad
I do know that you better not have one in your boat if you fish Canadian waters, since they consider it a handgun. A friend was checked on the Canadian side of the Detroit river and they found one in his boat. He was facing an indictable offense (same as our felony), but eventually ended up without a criminal conviction. He did have to hire a lawyer and pay around $5000 in fines.
|
Dave—I would not have noticed this thread but for the fact my son loves to watch those game warden reality shows. In one of the episodes I have seen the wardens in boating stops check for flares along with lifejackets, fishing licenses, etc as a part of their inspection requirements.
One could not be a bigger land-lubber than me, living in a land-locked state, but I had always thought flare guns were required on boats operating on the “big” waters like the Great Lakes and Coastal Waters. I could see one “drifting” into Canadian waters or into Mexican waters, for that matter. And I know both countries have highly restrictive firearm laws. Plus many of our states that abut big waters have highly restrictive gun laws too.
This seems to be a head-scratching issue for sure.
The visual distress signal requirement for recreational boaters states that all boats when used on coastal waters, including the Great Lakes, the territorial seas and those waters directly connected to the Great Lakes and the territorial seas, up to a point where the waters are less than two miles wide, and boats owned in the United States when operating on the high seas must be equipped with visual distress signals. There are a handful of exceptions so you should always check your state regulations to be certain you comply.
Regardless of exemptions, all boaters should be able to signal for help. Boaters must have current dated US Coast Guard-approved day and night signals for all boats operating on coastal and open bodies of water. Federal requirements are as follows:
For boats under 16' in length: Distress signals are only required when operating between sunset and sunrise. If operating at night, one electric distress light or three combination day/night red flares are required.
For boats 16' in length or greater: One orange distress flag and one electric distress light - or - three hand-held or floating orange smoke signals and one electric distress light - or - three combination day/night red flares; hand-held, meteor or parachute type.
Flares: The Requirements