Since you are reading this, you might be entertaining aspirations of becoming a spy. That’s fine — some of my best friends are spies — but when acting out your fantasies, please be careful and judicious. I am going to offer you some advice about carrying a handgun while abroad.

First, let us consider that famous and/or notorious spy, Agent 007. James Bond without his Walther PPK would be like Bond without his, well, other gun. But do remember this:

• Bond isn’t just a spy — he’s an assassin.
• Bond is a fictional character.
• Whatever country you’re going to, chances are that having a gun with you is illegal.

So, when going abroad, please leave your handgun behind.

If you are still determined to take it with you, please read the rest of this post.

Unless you have diplomatic immunity and a sympathetic American ambassador for a boss, you will need a gun permit from the country that you’re going to. Getting that requires time, money, and probably some luck — because you’re a foreigner asking for a gun permit. A gun? Why do you need a gun?

Why, indeed?

During the Second World War, the CIA-style spy agency of the United States was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Occasionally I watch old OSS training films, just for fun. (Yeah, I’m weird.) It may surprise you to learn that one of those training films advised OSS secret couriers to never to carry pistols. Those couriers were supposed to carry secret messages all over Nazi-occupied Europe, right under the noses of the Gestapo secret police. Yet, the OSS film warned that carrying a handgun involved too much risk of discovery. Plus, there are the ordinary complications of pistol care and maintenance.

If you assess that you need a handgun because of where you are going — well, that grave assessment means that you probably shouldn’t be going there. If you have to go there anyway, you will probably need more than a handgun. You will probably need some armed bodyguards. And I’m not kidding.

Short of that extreme case, your safest strategy for guarding against criminal and terrorist threats abroad is to keep a low profile and avoid suspicious and questionable situations. Try to blend in with the locals. The clothes they typically wear, you should wear. The mannerisms they typically display, you should display. Be sneaky, but not arrogant. Of course, you might imagine a scenario in which having a handgun might help you — but frankly, at least as many scenarios exist in which carrying a handgun can get you in very serious trouble: legal issues, cultural misunderstandings, and the ever present risk of a serious accident. And by the way, the scenarios which involve messing up are much more likely than the one “having a handgun is helpful” scenario.

Regardless, it helps to have a local contact who knows your foreign location and will guide you. In some cultures abroad, the natives believe that any guest, even a strange foreigner like you, must be fiercely protected and offered the warmest hospitality possible. Such cultures view the protection of a guest as a religious and moral imperative.

If your hosts are armed and you arrive unarmed, your lack of a handgun will implicitly demonstrate your trust — both in them and in their obligation to protect you. Conversely, if you arrive carrying a handgun but your hosts are unarmed, they could interpret your weapon as an insult to themselves and to their culture. If you cannot trust your hosts to protect you and if your destination is extremely violent, you should not be there in the first place.

— John G. Heidenrich