[Rhodes22-list] Flare guns & state law

[Robert Skinner]

Flare guns & state law

The latest USCG pamphlet "federal Requirements & Safety Tips 
For Recreational Boats" on page 15 has the following 
statement: "Pistol launched ... flares ... have many 
characteristics of a firearm ... In some states they are 
considered a firearm and prohibited from use."

I have been blissfully carrying a 12 guage flare pistol 
and flare shells for years.  IMHO, 12 guage parachute 
flares are the most effective distress signal available,
and I can carry a lot in a small space.

After seeing the above warning, I searched the 'net for 
references and got fragmentary results - no collected or 
unified infomation addressing this issue.  I did find 
several fragmentary references indicating that lower and 
appellate courts in Virginia held that a flare pistol 
was a firearm.  VA supreme court said it wasn't -- some 
years later.

At least one New York court decided that a flare pistol 
was a concealable weapon, and therefore illegal.

I plan to be sailing Lake Champlain and the Hudson, and 
hope to be on the Chesapeake again before I can't sail 
any more.  I need to know what the true state of the law
is in each state from Norfolk to Maine.

Does anyone know of such a compendium?
-- 
Robert Skinner