Tips
Back - 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 - Next
Stay Safe Street Tip #48
Local Events & Lessons and April LOK
Good afternoon Folks.
Jane and I hope that all are well and staying safe in these troubling and
disconcerting times. March has been a busy month for me and saw the first
Advanced Tactical Concealed Carry classes. I am still working to refine but so
far so good. Every new class has kind of a "shake out" period until the students
and I are satisfied with the results and ability to satisfy the training
requirement. The next class will be "low light/no light" and "shoot/don't shoot"
from both concealed carry and ready gun perspectives. If you have not looked at
my website (www.staysafestreets.com) in a bit you may want to take a look. Todd
Hower, my highly esteemed webmaster, has really done an excellent job. He is
also available for your web concerns if needed. Also please take a look at the
Goods & Services provider lists. I am going to be adding an excellent painter
(Nick & Son Wall Papering @ 727-531-8382) in the next few days. All services are
tested and definitely meet my standards -- not that I'm picky or detailed or
anything like that! FYI, I have removed several providers due to poor quality
service and/or work. If you happen to be either displeased or find the provider
not available, please advise so that I may remove them. All providers are
required to give my students a 10% discount. See you at Knight Shooting Sports
my friends. Tnx Norm
PS -- In the last week, Ed Martenfeld, owner of Knight Shooting Sports, and I
have heard from Knight Shooting Sport customers that a firearm was stolen. One
customer had complete detailed information to include make, model, serial
number, etc., and was able to provide that info to the police. The other
customer had no idea of any of that information so the police will be definitely
hampered in listing on the data base. Please be sure to note all required
details in a secure location in the event of a loss. This will insure that you
can provide the appropriate information to the police as well as your insurance
carrier. However, your first and quickest report must go to the police. This
will provide a clean time line in case the firearm is used in a crime. FYI, if
you are an NRA member, you have $1000 in firearms loss insurance as part of your
membership!
St. Pete Times February 28, 2003 "Teenager admits his
role in death"
On May 9, 2002, 16-year-old Richard Washington and 14-year-old
Charlie McDuffy committed the strong-arm robbery of 63-year-old Charles Carroll
in Largo. The 200 pound 16-year-old apparently made the 150 pound victim stand
up after the robbery and then executed a body blocking type attack to the
victim's back thereby knocking the victim to the ground and breaking his neck.
The victim then expired 20 days after the attack. The basic definition of
'Deadly Force' basically states that deadly force is a level of force that is
likely to result in either death or great bodily injury. If the scumbag had any
sense at all, he would have realized that his size and youth in such an attack
would either kill or seriously injure Mr. Carroll. Of course scumbags are not
renowned for their ability to foresee ramifications of their actions. I would be
willing to bet that Washington was surprised that the victim died and then tried
to blame the victim for either having weak bones or resisting or making him
attack the older man or nobody else dies when he attacked them like that or some
such hogwash. The lesson to be learned is simply that actions may have
absolutely unintended consequences so do your best to avoid confrontations if at
all possible. The St. Pete Times advised in the March 8, 2003 edition that the
16-year-old was convicted of second-degree murder and robbery is facing between
22 years and life in prison. The 14-year-old was sentenced to 10 years in prison
with five years of that sentence suspended. Great way to screw up the lives of
three families!
St. Pete Times March 3, 2003 "Robbery at Tampa liquor store
ends with tragedy"
On March 1, 2003 two scumbag armed robbers held up the Albertson's
liquor store in Town N' Country at approximately 10PM. A man who "thought
everybody should try to do right" and whose wife worked at the Albertson's,
chased the two felons as they fled after the armed robbery. The citizen, identified
as 45-year-old and father of four Arnie Klotsch, "went after them in his
car" as they ran from the scene. As he chased them, "one of the robbers
fired two shots" killing Mr. Klotsch. The two scumbags, who were also suspects
in the prior armed robbery of a N. Dale Mabry Speedway, successfully escaped
but were arrested several weeks later. Neither armed robbery resulted in injury
to the clerks but there was a death because a citizen decided to become a vigilante.
You know how I feel about this topic. Simply stated, every time a citizen becomes
so involved, all events that result from that involvement basically are at the
liability and responsibility of the citizen. In my opinion the death of the
good citizen was simply the result of his own actions. Please do not misunderstand
this statement -- the armed robberies are scum that belong in prison waiting
to be executed for felony murder when they made the decision to shoot at the
citizen as they fled. However, the citizen placed himself in harm's way thereby
creating a situation that resulted in his death thereby depriving his children
of their father and his wife of her husband. I am a total advocate of self-defense
but definitively do not advocate looking for trouble. Personally, if another
citizen had also been either killed or wounded during the shooting, that would
have also been due to the citizen's intervention!
St. Pete Times March 7, 2003 "2 mothers feel pain of
shooting"
Once again an adult moron, in my opinion, brings out a gun to
break up a children's squabble. Once again two families are destroyed, other
families scarred, one 14-year-old teenager who was not involved but simply a
bystander dead and another on the way to prison. The shooter, Tyron Williams,
46-years-old, became upset that a group of boys was harassing his teenage son
in their Tampa neighborhood. Approximately 9PM, March 6, 2003, Williams
confronted a group of teenagers across the street from his home. According to
the article, "Williams took a gun out of his waistband" apparently
to fire a shot into the air to scare the kids. Sgt. Jim Simonson that "He
fired the first shot on the upswing of his arm" and "The victim was
hit with a bullet in the abdomen." The 14-year-old bystander was pronounced
dead at Tampa General Hospital at 11PM. Mr. William's mother remarked that "It
had to be an accident" and that "My son is not a monster." I
can agree with his mother that he probably is not a monster. However, he is
a lot of other things that resulted in this tragedy. If he had been less impulsive,
he may have called the police to report his concerns, left his gun in the house,
spoken with the boys parents, more closely regulated his son's activities, involved
his son in other activities, taken a firearms class and so forth. He failed
miserably at every decision point in the event. He probably did not even realize
that simply walking out in the street with his apparently openly and rudely
displayed firearm could result in prison for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly
Weapon, improper display of a firearm and improper discharge if he fired. There
are other possible charges, particularly since minors were involved, but you
get the point. Well, he failed to think, killed an innocent child, placed himself
in prison, destroyed multiple families, traumatized all the juvenile witnesses
and simply wrecked a lot of lives. Please remember, pointing a firearm at another
in a rude or threatening manner may incite greater violence as well as simply
not serve to scare anyone! Besides, I hear that jail and prison food is lousy!
St. Pete Times March 14, 2003 "Woman key in capturing
man who robbed her"
A young woman was placing her child in a car seat at the Best
Buy at US 19 and Drew Street and was approached by a man who was riding a bicycle.
He asked the time and she responded. A few seconds later he returned and apparently
faked having a gun. At least he was polite as he stated "Ma'am, I'm going
to rob you," stole her purse and then rode off on his bike. The victim
immediately called Clearwater PD, reported the armed robbery and notified her
credit card companies of the theft and canceled her cards. An hour later and
just across US 19, the scumbag attempted to purchase $900 worth of electronics
with one of the victim's stolen cards. The card came back stolen, the officer
investigating the robbery at the Best Buy immediately responded to the Target
and arrested the 27-year-old scumbag, albeit a polite scumbag! He had the victim's
credit cards and cell phones when arrested. The victim's quick response made
the arrest possible no doubt. Of course, that quick response was combined with
the fact that the scumbag must be doing drugs because it was dadgum dopy to
try and shop a 1/2 mile from the scene of the crime less than an hour later.
Oh well -- that is why we call it dope! Please refer to Tips #29 and #42 for
more info on credit card theft and ID theft. Jane and I both have our credit
cards listed on our computer and can respond very quickly to cancel credit cards,
bank accounts, etc. When Jane had her wallet stolen at work, we were completely
canceled in less than an hour. By the way, the credit card services that play
watchdog are great for allowing you to make one call rather than many. May be
worth investigating!
St. Pete Times March 27, 2003 "Coffee shop argument
turns deadly"
Here we go again! Two friends go to a coffee shop in the Beach
Boulevard district of Gulfport at 3PM for a cup of coffee. They get into an
argument over a pocketknife and James Hubbard, 61, pulls a small caliber handgun
and shoots his friend, Jeffrey Bossert, 55, twice in the head with the obvious
result -- Bossert is pronounced dead at Bayfront Medical Center. Amazing! I
will bet you that Hubbard had no idea when he got up that morning that he would
be a killer by 3PM. I will also bet that Bossert had no idea that he would be
dead by 3PM. Over a lousy pocketknife. If they had called me, I would have given
each them their own dadgum knife! This is another excellent reminder of the
Tigers & Sheep theory -- be willing to back off and down because so many
apparently inconsequential events may have ramifications that will last for
eternity. Also remember that once you become an armed citizen, every encounter,
every confrontation and every conflict may have effects that will be devastating
for all concerned! No 'Hat Rack' events my friends -- they are embarrassing
even if you survive!
April 17, 2003 Ladies of the Knight Meeting
The schedule for the April 17, 2003 LOK meeting is:
a. Registration will be in the classroom from 6 - 7PM. Light
refreshments will be served. In addition, Heather from Body & Sole Spa will be
doing free chair massages again. Please note that tipping Heather is not
mandatory but should be and is sincerely appreciated!
b. The seminar will then be conducted from 7 - 8PM. Wayne Tilman,
President of the Security Management Group, St. Petersburg, Florida will present
information on Global Terrorism. Wayne is a noted speaker on this topic and a
published author in the area of security, law enforcement and western history.
Wayne will complete the three session terrorism and WMD block with his
presentation.
c. The firing portion from 8 - 9:30PM will feature handguns using
weapon retention techniques. This will all be close range shooting with both
stationary and moving targets. The total cost for the ladies shooting the
handguns will be $10.00 plus ammunition. You may select either a 25 round or 50
round of course of fire. You may use your own handguns but please note that
ammunition must be purchased at Knight's either before or during the event. If
you need to use a range gun, that will be included in the basic $10.00 cost. I
will have a complete price list of 25 and 50 rounds of different caliber's at
registration but the costs will be from $5.30 to $13.96 to include tax. For
example, 25 rounds of 9MM will be $5.30 and 25 rounds of .40 caliber $6.98. The
ammunition prices reflect the LOK 10% discount and Florida State Tax. In
addition, the retail store will again be open for your shopping pleasure --
remember, as LOK members, you receive 10% off all regular priced items in the
store except firearms & range time. Jane will be available to answer all
questions about Coronado Leather products (already on sale) and accept special
orders. Incidentally, both Knight's and I offer Gift Certificates for all of our
products and services!
d. The total cost for the evening will depend on what you shoot. If
you just wish to attend the social and seminar portion, the cost is $10.00.
Please be advised that we will not be accepting deposits in advance! Please call
Knight's (727-546-4447) or yours truly (727-535-9151 or 515-1317) or send me an
email to advise that you will attend. See you at Knight's!
STAY SAFE AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Tips