Firearms in Honduras

**ROCK-IT3** · June 15th, 2010, 09:53 PM

I just got back from a week in Honduras (there is a thread in the Lounge about some of my experiences), and I just wanted to report a few things about firearms there. First of all, when they say "I'm riding shotgun", they mean it. LOL.
Seriously, from what I could gather, citizens can't carry firearms there, but they can carry machetes. I saw several seedy looking characters carrying machetes in fancy decorated leather sheaths, hanging over their shoulder. Our guide told us it was for protection, as they were most likely gang members.

Many businesses, including most hotels, banks, grocery stores, and even fast food places have private security. Most of them carry full size stainless steel revolvers, probably .38/.357 judging by the spare cartridges. Some carry pistol grip shotguns. It doesn't seem that they shoot them very often, since the spares in their belts are of assorted colors and varieties.

I saw one group of men, who I am not sure were private security or police of some sort, who were carrying Ruger Mini-14's (or possibly 30's), stainless steel with wood stocks, and 1 guy with them had what I thought was an SKS (which makes me think that the Rugers were 30's). Quite an assortment. One of my buddies thought he saw some security with some sort of FAL variant.

The traffic police were carrying some sort of AK-47 variant. I know nothing about AK's, so maybe someone can identify them for me. They had side-folding stocks with a round steel framework, all black furniture (don't know if it was wood or plastic), and maybe the biggest clue was that they all had an up-turned bolt handle. So what were they?

I didn't see many semi-auto pistols, just a few of the police (not all) had them. From the grip they seemed like they might be Beretta's.

Funniest thing was, on the only firearms shop that I saw, there was a mural painted on the outside wall that showed a bad guy and a good guy with their revolvers pointed at each other. The bad guy had a horrified look on his face, and the words "click, click" were painted by his gun. The good guy had a little puff of smoke coming from his. Too funny! When it goes "click, click", you're in big trouble, amigo!!

**wellcraft** · June 16th, 2010, 06:17 PM

up turned charging handle and your discription of the stock indicates it was probably a galil.

**Triggerh4ppy** · June 16th, 2010, 06:19 PM

galils.
yep!

**ROCK-IT3** · June 16th, 2010, 09:54 PM

Thanks for the info on the Galils, guys (or gals). I googled them, and that is exactly what the folding stock and the charging handle looked like. Wikipedia doesn't list Honduras as a user of them, though. I wish I could have seen one closer up (although on the good end of it, LOL). So they are NATO calibers, eh?

**Triggerh4ppy** · June 16th, 2010, 10:24 PM

Indeed they are chambered in 5.56x45

**wellcraft** · June 17th, 2010, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by ROCK-IT3

Thanks for the info on the Galils, guys (or gals). I googled them, and that is exactly what the folding stock and the charging handle looked like. Wikipedia doesn't list Honduras as a user of them, though. I wish I could have seen one closer up (although on the good end of it, LOL). So they are NATO calibers, eh?

you can buy a clone of the galil for about 700 bucks or less, century is building the golani galil clone and while many have had problems with them mine worked fine. IMI galils are priced in the 2500-4000 dollar range if you want an original, the galils were considered the best AK varient available along with the valmet's.