MAJOR NORM BELSON, INC.

On April 15, 2008, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed the "Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008", Florida State Statute FSS 790.251. This act legalizes the storage of firearms locked in private vehicles in public and private employer parking lots if that person has a Concealed Weapon Permit. The bill is NOT in effect until July 1, 2008 "... and shall apply to causes of action accruing on or after that date." The act may be located @ http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0503er.xml&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0503&Session=2008 . It is recommended that you print a copy of that act and maintain in a file for future reference. In my opinion, the act is well written and not only offers the employer immunity from wrongful acts but imposes significant sanctions on the employer if the act is violated. However, in my opinion it is strongly recommended that you do not advise either your employer or co-workers of your CWP because the reality is that if an employer strongly opposes the act, he or she may seek an alternative means to remonstrate with you for the exercise of your rights according to CS/HB 503 as well as the 2nd Amendment! I also do not advocate advertising that you may have a firearm in the car -- 'This Vehicle Protected by Smith & Wesson', 'Keep Honking -- I'm Reloading', etc. Here is a copy of the e-mail that I sent to Governor Crist as well as Ms. Marion Hammer of the NRA. There is an active effort by multiple business alliances to repeal the act so it is recommended that you notify Governor Crist @ Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com that you support the CS/HB-503. It also would not hurt to so advise your elected representatives.

Thank you Mr. Davis. My wife, our children, our grandchildren, our 6,000 plus concealed weapon permit students and all good citizens who support the Second Amendment appreciates Governor Crist's support of this important bill. The Division of Licensing statistics clearly establish that armed citizens with concealed weapon permits do not pose a threat to the safety of other good citizens. The Florida Concealed Weapon Permit (CWP) program began October 1, 1987. From inception through April 30, 2008, only 165 persons of the 1,339, 940 CWP holders have committed a crime with a firearm. That is 0.0123139842% Please see http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/news/concealed_carry.html. The data is located in the Monthly Summary section in Statistical Reports. You combine that startling statistic with the fact that Florida Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) do not have a specific duty to protect the citizen -- the duty is to society! The argument for the CWP program is simply that the basic role of a LEO is that of an "armed historian' due to the fact that the officers arrive at the scene after the crime has been committed, deal with the victim/survivors, have a firearm on their hip and do a written report. Unfortunately, I have to advise our students of that reality based on my personal experience as a Florida police officer. Respectfully, Norm Belson Major, US Army (Retired) and Clearwater PD (Retired)

I have said many times that there are two crimes of the future in my opinion -- home invasion and identity theft. The latest report according to Javelin research reports that in 2007 there were 8,4000,000 adult victims of identity theft with total losses of $49.3 Billion in the United States. One of the best resources that I have found is the Federal ID Theft web site, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/, and the next best source is your own common sense! I absolutely advocate cross cut shredding of every document-- address labels, canceled checks, bill heads, account statements, shipping labels, etc., that either enters or leaves your home or office. Please don't forget the order forms that are included in any magazines or periodicals that you may receive. The U. S. Supreme Court has ruled that anything you place for trash pickup is in the public realm and you have no expectation of privacy. Our credit cards are not signed but there is a requirement to check 'photo ID' and if done, thank the cashier and if not, notify management. We also installed a locking mailbox to prevent mail theft. When we did have a loss, we immediately notified all three credit bureaus (see the Federal web site) and placed a fraud alert to prevent fraudulent accounts being opened in our name. When we hand a credit card to a server for a meal, we always check to make sure that we received our card back, do not leave credit card receipts on the table and always verify that the card receipt does not contain a complete account number. Please remember -- in all elements of personal security, be always more careful and never merely careful! By the way, it seems that there is a new scam virtually every day. We had the IRS impersonators 'phishing' for personal information during the Federal tax season and now some scumbags are calling as jury coordinators and attempting to intimidate their potential victims into releasing their social security numbers and date of birth so that a warrant for the victim's arrest can be canceled.

Woman robbed by intruder at her home & Parking dispute ends in a death March 18, 2008

An elderly Tampa woman answered a knock on her door just after midnight. A scumbag, armed with a plastic BB gun forces his way in and steals money, jewelry and prescription drugs. The victim escaped through a side door and called the police. The home invader was captured a block away with a plastic gun and charged with home invasion robbery, theft from a person over 65 years of age, armed burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and other charges. Lesson -- do not open the door EVER unless you are sure of that person's identity!

Two neighbors in the Sulphur Springs area of Tampa apparently had an on going dispute about loud parties that usurped the parking place of the 28-year-old man. The younger man and his girlfriend tried to ignore the noise but he noticed that his parking space was occupied and walked into his yard and yelled at the 41-year-old man who was holding the party to move the car. The older man punched the younger man who fell into the girlfriend and both hit the ground. The 41-year-old scumbag then shot and killed the younger man. Lesson -- be able to recognize the time to call the police!

St. Petersburg can be a very dangerous place on a routine basis. Between 10:48 PM, March 19, 2008, and 5:00 AM, March 20, 2008, four people were shot; two died. The first was over a $5 carwash debt between brothers. The 35-year-old shot and killed his 38-year-old brother! I must be old -- when I fought with my brother Gary we used fists and an occasional cinder block. Ask Gary to show you his scar! A 26-year-old man is shot in the back during an attempted robbery -- he lived. At 2:50 AM, a 24-year-old man walks into St. Petersburg Hospital with a gunshot wound but does not cooperate with the police. Most likely this is a bad drug deal that may result in retaliation commonly referred to as 'street justice'. At 5:00 AM, a woman was three others in a car buying drugs. The deal apparently turned bad aor was a 'jack' and she was shot and killed. By the way, the shootings occurred in widely separated areas -- not all in South St. Pete!

In another incident reported in the May 10, 2008, St. Petersburg Times, a man was fishing in Lake Maggiore at 5:00 AM while his girlfriend slept in his car. A man armed with a high powered semi-automatic rifle walked up and shot at the man who was hit in the leg. He then shot and killed the woman in the car. The motive for the shooting has not been released. It also appears that all victims were probably known by the attackers. There have now been 13 homicides in St. Petersburg in 2008 but most appear to be in the form of internecine affairs. Lesson -- be careful in St. Petersburg after dark!

I am not a fan of vigilantism but there are times a good citizen should get involved if he knows the possible risks and innocent life is endangered. On April 3, 2008, Steven Parez of St. Petersburg heard his 42-year-old neighbor, Thomas Callahan, aka Scumbag, threaten his girlfriend with a knife. Parez confronted Callahan and told him to "cool it" and go back in his apartment. Callahan approached Parez and started to swing at the Good Samaritan. Parez responded with a straight jab that may have broken Callahan's nose. They continued to fight and Callahan then stabbed Parez with a knife and was subsequently subdued by neighbors and held for the police when they finally arrived. The knife wounds were minor and Parez was released after treatment. My question is why were the police not called before the stabbing? I definitely understand the motivation to become involved in this type of incident but the next event makes no sense.

This story, "Would-be hero dies chasing thieves" appeared in the May 8, 2008, St. Petersburg Times. A woman exited a Tampa drugstore about 1:30 PM. A scumbag thief snatched her drugs out of her hand, jumped into a tan Honda sedan driven by his female accomplice and sped away. A bystander jumped partially into an open rear window as they drove by and was subsequently fell to the pavement, receiving apparently minor injuries, when the car struck another vehicle. A 25-year-old Bradenton man jumped on his motorcycle and sped after the getaway car and broad sided an SUV. The motorcycle erupted in flames and the well-intentioned citizen died. In my opinion, the two good citizens got caught up in the excitement of the moment and not only exposed themselves to either death or great bodily injury but other innocents such as the man and the woman in the SUV and other persons on the roadway. It was not a violent felony until those two Good Samaritans became involved. Instead of one needless death, there could have been at least four! Think about it -- if the first man was close enough to jump into the back window of the car, he was surely close enough to ID the scumbag subjects and obtain the car tag! Lesson -- be sure that the risk is worth either your life or the life of others and when seconds count, the police will be there in minutes!

I have fired a lot of 12-gauge shotguns and find it very hard to believe that anyone could be that idiotic to have a stupid discharge into the face of your buddy. Well, that was the claim in Seffner. A 21-year-old and his 24-year-old buddy were allegedly cleaning the 12-gauge when the 24-year-old pulled the trigger and killed the younger man. That has to be one of the monumentally stupid discharges of all times. The death was reported to Hillsborough Sheriff's Department as an "accident" and is being investigated -- Gee, I wonder why?

This story, 'Police Chief Shoots Self at Gun Training Session, appeared in the Associated Press and the internet May 5, 2008. The Riverdale, Utah, 54-year-old Chief of Police was doing a training exercise in a conference room in the headquarters. This man needs to go back to basic firearms! He was using live .40 caliber ammunition in his service weapon to demonstrate how to clear a malfunction. Well, he did show a method that is really not the 'school solution' -- he successfully shot himself in the ankle (had to be right or left since I assume that he has two ankles!) and I can't help but wonder if his officers learned anything from their leader such as:

How about a little more regional violence? I'll start with St. Petersburg. A 52-year-old disabled man was on his motorized scooter April 14, 2008, near downtown St. Pete. He was accosted by three young black males who wanted to ride his scooter. He refused and they followed him offering to sell him drugs (probably crack cocaine) and he refused again. So, to show their displeasure, they kicked him, called him racial names and then smashed his head with a ceramic yard ornament. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his serious injuries. A week later, a St. Petersburg 17-year-old stole his father's gun and took it to school; a place he apparently shunned most days. His father notified the police and the 17-year-old was arrested on the school bus. He had his father's .380 caliber pistol for protection.

A 41-year-old woman and her boyfriend were in his Ford F-150 on Hillsborough Ave in Tampa. Two cars described as a white Nissan Sentra and either a silver or gray Nissan Altima started a typical road rage scenario; honking, profane gestures and speech, weaving in and out, etc. The Sentra then pulled in front and slowed down. An Hispanic male stood up in the sun roof and fired three rounds at the Ford. One shot entered through the windshield, hit the female passenger in the forehead, exited through the side of her head, exited through the back window and hit a Jeep driving behind the Ford. Amazingly, the woman suffered no life threatening injuries! I strongly recommend that she immediately play the lottery! Of course, the scumbags fled. It sounds to me like a gang initiation so be wary if you see that kind of behavior. A week later, a 75-year-old man was sitting and resting on his adult tricycle at a HART bus stop. An 18-year-old scumbag demanded his tricycle and then punched the elderly man in the face. Of course being the cowardly scumbag that he was, the punk fired eight shots hitting the elderly man in the leg and a 42-year-old Good Samaritan in the shin who tried to prevent the scumbag from leaving! Once again, no good deed goes unpunished. The scumbag coward was charged with two counts of attempted murder, attempted armed robbery and elder abuse. For crying out loud, it was only a tricycle! Once again, damn lucky no one was killed. The senseless escalation to the use of deadly force over relatively minor crimes is frightening as Hell! I want to tell these young BAM (Best Arguments for Masturbation) that they should be careful around old men like me -- I can't run, I can't fight but I Sure Can Shoot!

Thank God for our criminal justice system. I have said it before and I will say it again -- it is the best dadgum system in the world but it still goes too far to protect the rights of the criminal and not the victim. Of course, as good citizens it seems that our only real right is to a nice clean body bag of own! Michael Lee Montgomery was arrested in 1996 for the sexual battery (rape) of an 45-year-old woman walking near Central Park in Sarasota. He was pulled over about an hour after the attack while driving in the vicinity of the rape. When they stopped his blue Firebird, they discovered:

Well, golly gee, sounds pretty much like a slam dunk doesn't it? Not so fast -- the most serious charges were dropped to include sexual assault and kidnapping, he did not serve any prison time and was not labeled a sexual predator! The sub human scumbag pled guilty to Aggravated Assault and received credit for time served in jail awaiting trial! Why may you ask? How about the victim made inconsistent statements and the car she said he was driving was a blue Celica! The prosecutor, Peter Lombardo, said that "I would say there were major problems with the victim's ... potential testimony" and there were questions about the car stop. Part of the problem with her testimony was that he apparently targeted victims who could not be credible witnesses. Oh by the way, Montgomery was arrested again in St. Petersburg for sexually battering four women -- all listed as 'vulnerable' same as the 1996 victim in Sarasota! The authorities also expect to find more victims. I wonder -- do you think that if the prosecutor worked a 'little harder' that this piece of walking excreta might be in prison and not raping any more 'vulnerable' victims? Lesson -- you cannot rely on the police, other wise known as 'Armed Historians, to protect you and your family and it does not seem like you can depend on the courts either!

Every once in a while, real heroes stand tall! I nominate Pinellas Sheriff's Deputies B. J. Lyons and Marvin Glover. These two deputies saved countless people when a 'troubled 30-year-old man (read lunatic in my opinion) entered the St. Petersburg Court House just after 1:00 PM. He was stopped at the security checkpoint by two or three bailiffs and asked to take off his back pack and put it through the X-Ray scanner and then walk through the metal detector. The man, later identified as Glen Powell, pulled a semi-automatic Sig Sauer .45 caliber pistol instead and opened fire from about 6 - 7 feet. Deputy Lyons was shot in his upper left chest and the bullet was deflected by his microphone and then grazed his face. Deputies Lyons and Glover fired 11 times, hit Powell six times and neutralized the threat very effectively and permanently. If they had not responded immediately and effectively, Powell with his 79 rounds of ammunition would have had numerous helpless victims to choose from in the first floor file rooms and clerk's offices and then the courtrooms and judicial chambers on the second floor. Well done gentlemen -- you both are credits to yourselves, the Pinellas County Sheriff's office and Law Enforcement! Lesson -- you will respond the way you train. The deputies actions were instinctual, swift and efficient!