Tips
Tip #76
Florida Firearms Update, ID Theft Tips, Local Stuff & Dumb Criminals
Good evening Folks. I will lead off Tip # 76 with Jon Gutmacher's February 2005 update for his outstanding book, 'Florida Firearms -- Law, Use & Ownership.' I am still trying to talk Jon into returning to Clearwater for an open forum and book signing. Hopefully, his visit will be in the near future. Knight Shooting Sports still has a good supply of ADG Secure Gun Vaults. The lift up & drop down battery operated models with the key pad are $89.00 and the barrel key models, perfect for automobiles, boats, SUV's, etc.; are $39.50. I also hope to be able to demonstrate the high tech Guardian Alarm System with the cell phone dialer feature by next week. This is really slick and doesn't tie you to a landline telephone. This is important because so many folks are eliminating traditional home and business telephone systems. Joe Pine, owner of Suncoast Security, and I saw this feature in operation a few weeks ago. All I can say is Welcome to the New World! Please be advised that the March LOK meeting will be rescheduled for April due to family matters. See you at Knight's! Tnx Norm & Jane
Florida Firearms - Law, Use & Ownership - February
2005 - update -- © 2005 by jon h. gutmacher
This is an update to the 1/2005 printing of the Fifth edition by
Jon Gutmacher, a man that I am proud to call a friend!
126 According to State v. Menuto, 30 FLW 358 (2DCA 2005) a mere "finding" of
delinquency on a juvenile crime that would be equivalent to a felony prohibits a
citizen from owning or possessing any firearms or electronic weapons, or
carrying any concealed weapon including chemical sprays until they reach 24
years of age. Violation is a second degree felony! The case held that a
"withheld adjudication" on a juvenile crime that was also a felony fell squarely
within F.S. 790.23(1)(b). The appellate court did not feel that the wording in
F.S. 985.228(7) which would recognize only "adjudicated" delinquents controlled.
I think the decision was totally wrong, however, my opinion doesn't count unless
the Florida Supreme Court, or another appellate court takes issue with this
decision. Be warned!
ID Theft Prevention Tips
You know, there is always a new way to rip you off! Incidentally, a tip
of the hat to Mary E. for sending me this info! Be aware that when you receive a
credit card back from a server or cashier, you must be sure to verify that it is
in fact your card. There is a new trend to replace your current card with
someone else's expired credit card. Some guy goes to a gym to workout and locks
his wallet in the locker. He finishes his workout and the locker is unlocked. He
quickly scans his wallet and determines that nothing is missing. A few weeks
later his $14,000 credit card bill arrived. Oh, $9,000 did not belong to him. He
so advised the card issuer but they refused to charge-off to fraud since he had
not reported as stolen in a timely manner! In another instance, a man pays for
his dinner with a credit card. When the server returned it to him, he looked at
the card and noticed it was another person's expired card. He so advised the
server and she waved the card in the air and retrieved the right card from the
cashier without any words being exchanged. Of course, the server apologized.
Gee, I wonder if this was SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)! In another twist,
a man pays for his pizza with a credit card. He notices that the cashier has a
camera phone and is taking a picture -- of his credit card! He then immediately
cancels his credit card. He must be a real "understanding" liberal person -- I
would have had the cops on the scumbag's butt quicker than I can spit! Just
remember, they are out there! Jane and I have our charge cards all marked
'Require Photo ID' so that we may be able to stop some of this crap. By the way,
Jane and I were recently in Live Oak and noticed that our charge card receipt
had the full card number & expiration date! No problem for us because we never
leave charge card receipt on the table! This just happened again in the Lone
Star Steak House. Be aware!
Client Live Event
I received the following email from one of my clients. I asked
Craig and received his permission to publish his email and my response.
Norm, Last weekend after taking the Tactical course I went to watch the Steelers
game with a friend. After dropping her off around 8 PM, I stopped at the
Checkers drive thru to grab some dinner. While I was ordering, I heard a loud
bang on the passenger window of my truck. I looked over to see a large black
male who was yelling for me to give him a ride. When I told him no, he proceeded
to try to open the door. He was very aggressive about getting into my vehicle. I
felt I was in danger. I drew my . 45 Glock and placed it on my lap in a ready
position. I proceeded to tell him I was armed and I had my cell phone in the
other hand ready to dial 911. He started to come around to the driver's side of
my truck. As he did so, he leaned over my windshield to look in. That's when he
saw my firearm. At that point he realized he chose the wrong vehicle to try to
take and ran away. A lot goes through your head in that type of situation. Your
training was invaluable at a time like that. When I got up to the window to pick
up my food, the entire restaurant had heard what had happened. The first thing
they said was I should have blasted him! When I drove down the road about 2
blocks there were 7-8 police cars searching for someone that had ditched their
car after a pursuit. I wonder if this was the same person looking to get out of
the area quick? Thanks again Craig M.
You are welcome Craig. Sounds like a good job to me. You did almost everything
right my friend. Odds are great that the scumbag was trying to get out of Dodge
and your vehicle was going to be the Ram! By the way, did you report to 911?
That may have been a great lead for the guy they were looking for due to your up
close and personal encounter? The odds are that if he were as desperate to get
away as this scumbag was to try a jack in an area with witnesses, he may have
attempted the same with someone without your skill sets. See you at Advanced
Tactical! Tnx for the note my friend -- always great to receive positive
feedback! Norm
St. Petersburg Times "SWAT snipers end ordeal" February 2,
2005
I always enjoy it when the unsuspecting and terminally unaware advise me
that they don't take risks and therefore are not in any danger. Then I also
frequently hear that they will be OK since the police will protect them. Sure
they will! I call this condition "permanent rectal defilade" which simply means
their head is up their butt never to be removed. You cannot do anything more
mundane than shopping in a strip mall, can you? Well, I believe that the woman
taken hostage at 7PM in a Tampa strip mall might disagree with you. She was
loading her packages and five young children into her car when a man brandishing
a .38 ran at her. She screamed at the children to run with an adult female
friend towards the mall. The woman was then taken hostage and placed in the
scumbag's car. She was repeatedly threatened with death to include the standard
countdown toward her execution. Three police snipers opened fire at 9:45PM
ending the scumbag's current as well as future threats. Unfortunately, the
victim received minor injuries when grazed by one of the sniper's projectiles.
Be safe out there!
St. Petersburg Times "Suspect aids, abets own capture" February 3, 2005
This happened in St. Petersburg my friends. This scumbag has robbed one
bank and attempted to rob another. So the detectives are cruising in an unmarked
car in the scumbag's neighborhood looking for the scumbag who was a known person
due to a tipster who provided the getaway car license plate. As they are driving
through the area, some driver whose car has broken down waves them down. You
guessed it -- it was the bank robber they were seeking! He was so helpful, like
getting himself arrested and all, that he gave up his accomplice! Now, the
police could not tie the accomplice to the bank robbery but when they tried to
stop him, he fled. This scumbag felon was captured found to have crack cocaine
in his possession as well as a firearm. Now they have him for FIP (Felon In
Possession)! That's why they call it dope!
Tip # 75 Followup -- Client Feedback
Remember the story about the second chance from Tip # 75? This was the
17-year-old who tried to burn down Trinity United Methodist Church during the
St. Pete riots in 1996. One of my clients, who wishes to remain absolutely
anonymous, advised that he knew this junior scumbag in a professional
relationship. He advised that this nimrod, who should have been serving life in
prison, was bragging and boasting to his 'homeys' how he had beat the system by
feigning contrition and remorse. That is a great lesson for other juvenile punks
isn't it? Personally, hammer the junior scumbags and maybe we won't have to deal
with them as adult scumbags. We had a saying in Special Forces -- if you grab
them by the testicles, their hearts and minds are sure to follow! Maybe a real
sentence as a juvenile would have prevented his other multiple serious crimes.
Yeah right!
St. Petersburg Times "Fatal confrontation begins with laser
light" February 5, 2005
A group of Pinellas County deputies were in a Pinelllas Park parking lot
working a case when they noticed that their cruisers were being laser designated
-- a firearms targeting system. So the deputies become reasonably concerned,
light up the suspected location with their spotlight and now the red dot
appeared on their bodies. They ended up in a confrontation with the resident in
a nearby second floor apartment. A few minutes later, the scumbag was shot dead
by one of the officers who was armed with a 12 gauge shotgun. The officers had
previously knocked on the door, identified themselves as deputies and heard the
man say that he "was going to get a gun." They then cleared the building's
residents, returned to the apartment and now heard the scumbag say "I'm going to
blow somebody's head off." The girlfriend then flees the building without her
two-year-old daughter, who was still in the apartment (way to go Mom) and
advised the deputies that he had guns in the apartment. The subject appears in
the doorway, displays his left hand but refuses to show his right hand and the
deputy, who is reasonably in fear for his life and fires one round from his 12
gauge shotgun thereby eliminating the threat. The subject's father said "But the
nearest gun was 8 feet away....why not shoot him in the leg?" Told you that
folks made those type of stupid comments. How long does it take you to move
eight feet and retrieve a loaded 9MM pistol from a drawer? Thank God the child,
her 'runaway' mother, other citizens and the deputies were OK. Lesson to be
learned -- don't point targeting devices at cops! I had that happen in
Clearwater and my partner and I were definitely not happy campers. Neither were
the smart aleck punks after the felony traffic stop!
St. Petersburg Times "Bill would paint target on backs of intruders"
February 10, 2005, & Numerous Other Stories
You have probably been reading the series of news stories in regard to
expanding the right of Florida citizens to use deadly force when facing scumbag
intruders either in their occupied home, automobile or any other public place
that have a right to be. This is a major expansion of the existing Castle
Doctrine which basically allows homeowners to use deadly force if they believe
that the intruder is committing a forcible felony in their home. Holy cow -- I
am an ardent supporter of a good citizen's right to defend themselves, their
families and others if they so choose against felonious attack but strongly
believe that the good citizen must do everything possible to include retreat and
efforts to attempt to persuade the scumbag to terminate their criminal behavior.
Please take a look at HB-249 and SB-436. If passed in present form, you may
start reading of shootings in the street because one citizen feels threatened by
another person because as stated in the NRA-ILA memo of February 24, 2005,
"Law-abiding citizens should not be victimized by the state/courts for failing
to retreat [RUN) from their own property or any place they have a right to be
in the face of attack by an unlawful intruder." Just do yourself a favor my
friends -- don't be the test case if this bill passes!
St. Petersburg Times "Driver rams man's vehicle over trash, authorities
say" February 21, 2005
This happened on the East side of US Highway 19 within sight of Knight
Shooting Sports. On February 20, 2005, a 25-year-old man driving a four-wheel
all-terrain vehicle saw some mutt in a gold & white Chevrolet truck dumping
trash. The witness became so incensed that he tried to prevent the scumbag from
leaving by blocking the truck with his much smaller vehicle. Turns out that was
a really bad idea. You have heard that you shouldn't take a knife to a gunfight.
You may now add that you shouldn't take an ATV to a truck fight! The illegal
dumper, read scumbag criminal pig, rammed the ATV three times with the truck
thereby injuring the Good Samaritan's (read dummy) left leg and arm. I
appreciate the sentiment but Holy Cow Batman, that was pretty stupid! The victim
was able to obtain a partial tag and business name but he might have made his
life easier and less painful by simply obtaining the name of the business, tag
and vehicle description and providing same to the Pinellas Park PD!
St. Petersburg Times "Bad-luck streak gets prosecutor in
trouble" February 23, 2005
Did you hear the 'Naked Truth' about the 'Naked Prosecutor?' A Monroe
County prosecutor is in Key West and gets stupid drunk. This genius then decides
to play a joke on his drinking buddies (go figure) by stripping to his birthday
suit, running naked across the motel parking lot and then jumping into the back
seat of a friend's car. Well, Phase 1 and 2 go well but Phase 3 is a disaster.
He ends up in the back seat of a car that is occupied by a woman waiting for her
boyfriend. She screams, the boyfriend comes running, numbnuts (it was a little
chilly) runs away and, still naked, is caught by a police officer in the middle
of the parking lot. Ooops! That will make the Monroe Count State Attorney real
proud of his new prosecutor who was charged with disorderly conduct and indecent
exposure, both second degree misdemeanors. The article further stated that the
hapless streaker was admitted to the Florida Bar last August. Personally, it is
very apparent to me that this clown did not 'pass' too many bars! In summary, I
believe that his career with the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office is over --
you can't have an effective prosecutor who is the butt of so jokes!
The Herald "Suspect's charge now first-degree" March 2,
2005
This is real neat. This 34-year-old Manatee scumbag stands accused of
murdering a 48-year-old woman in her home in July 2004. Her body was stuffed
into a compartment under her waterbed. The State Attorney just upgraded the
charge from second-degree murder to first-degree murder based on new evidence so
the death penalty is on the table. The part that flat makes me mad as Hell is
that this is the scumbag's second murder of an innocent woman. He was convicted
of murdering a 34-year-old woman in 1987 in Kentucky. He was 16 at that time and
served 13 years of a 20 year sentence because Kentucky law at that time only
required that scumbags serve 65% of their sentence! In a perfect world, this
animal would still be in prison and the innocent 48-year-old woman would still
be alive. Hopefully Florida does a better job and no more innocents will die! As
stated before, I am in favor of the death penalty in felony murder cases. All
studies have revealed that executed murderers kill no other innocent persons!
Idiots Reign Supreme
Not sure if all these are true but just dumb enough to be true.
A tip of the hat to my buddy Brad for these!
#1 -- A medical student in 2004 was working in the poison control center and
received a frantic call from a mother whose daughter had been caught eating
ants. The med student advised her that the ants were not harmful. The mother
calmed down and then casually mentioned that she had given her daughter ant
poison to kill the ants! Next stop -- the emergency room. Hey lady -- here's
your sign!
#2 -- In 2004, two Boeing employees stole a life raft from a 747. They then put
the raft in a nearby river to take a ride. Here comes a Coast Guard helicopter
at full speed. These two dummies are immediately fired by Boeing. They forgot
that when an aircraft life raft is inflated, an emergency locator beacon is
activated. Here's your signs too!
#3 -- This mutt wants beer real, real bad so he takes a cinder block and tries
to throw it through a liquor store window. The window is made of plexiglass so
the cinder block bounces off the window, hits him in the head and knocks him
out. This was all captured on videotape. Here's your sign stupid -- you can hang
it on the lump in your head! Tony Davis, my buddy who owns Glass Protection
Services and installs the Mylar, said the same thing happened in Miami at one of
the stores that he protected. However, in that instance the police were actually
able to arrest the scumbag because he was still out cold when they found him!
How about one more? This rocket scientist in San Francisco pretends to have a
gun and carjacks a motorist with the 'pretend' gun. He forces the motorist to
drive him to two separate ATM's. Sounds like a typical ATM crime except there is
one twist -- this idiot withdrew money from his own account! Here's your sign
too!