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Tip #78

Florida Firearms Update, Assorted Ugliness & Stupidity and Abject Apology

Good afternoon Folks. Sorry for the delayed newsletter but things have been exceedingly busy with classes, Mylar estimates and alarm calls as well as family business. I attempted to send this tip June 16, 2005, to help advertise the Knight Shooting Sports Father's Day Sale scheduled for June 16 - June 19, 2005. Unfortunately, my bulk email access with AOL was inexplicably and unexpectedly deleted and I was unable to reestablish in time to alert you to the sale items -- now has been 25 days and more than 30 hours of frustration and irritation! So folks, please accept my humble apology. Also please be aware that you may have already received this newsletter so this mailing, IF IT GOES THROUGH, is a test to see if I am FINALLY back on the bulk email list. You may have figured out that I lose patience with things that should not be broken! My concern for the impact of the October 1, 2005, Personal Protection Bill introduction continues unabated. Mark Martenfeld, Knight Shooting Sports Manager, and yours truly spoke with Jon Gutmacher in May and are still tentatively planning a book signing and seminar on the new bill sometime in September 2005. Jon also just provided his latest book update and it will be submitted with the next newsletter. I will keep you posted as the seminar date begins to firm. Ed Martenfeld, the owner and designer of Knight Shooting Sports, sent an editorial response to the St. Pete Times reference a feature story written by the mother of the 12-year-old boy shot and killed September 5, 2003. The mother stated that guns should be hidden from children -- Ed stated that education and locking is much more critical than HIDING; a policy that I absolutely advocate! As always, the level of violence that occurs in our region and state continues to scare the crap out of me! Also please remember folks, you may either call 727-535-9151 or 727-515-1317 or send me an email if I may assist with your training and security issues such as Guardsman alarms, Mylar Glass Gard and home and business security surveys as well as adult and junior firearms classes. See you at Knight's! Tnx Norm & Jane
PS -- Both Knight Shooting Sports and yours truly offer excellent gift certificates!

ROAD RAGE!
#1 -- "Road rage causes a fatal rollover" St. Petersburg Times April 27, 2005
#2 -- "Birthday not a good one for angry driver" St. Petersburg Times May 27, 2005
#3 -- "Crash follows road rage incident; girl, 14, killed" St. Petersburg Times May 28, 2005

Well, here we continue on our regional Road Rage Rampage!
On April 26, 2005, a 33-year-old man with two women in his Isuzu SUV, was driving in the median lane on the Courtney Campbell Parkway. Another driver in a black, full-size SUV became very irate because the 33-year-old would not yield his lane. Then to complicate matters, the first driver "flipped off" the man in the SUV. The SUV driver, identified as a 20-year-old male, became enraged and began a "relentless" effort to force the other driver out of his way. The 20-year-old eventually passed in the curb lane and then immediately swerved back into the median lane thereby cutting off the victim's SUV. The 33-year-old lost control when he panic braked and then rolled his SUV by the boat ramp on the Tampa side. The driver was not wearing a seat belt so was ejected and killed. One of his female passengers was seriously injured and the other suffered a broken collar bone. The 20-year-was arrested six days later and charged with vehicular homicide and two counts of reckless driving that led to serious injury. Once again, the "upraised distal digit" served to further fuel an already bad situation.
The second incident occurred in Tampa at 5PM. The 27-year-old birthday boy, BB for short, was apparently having a bad day. He stopped his SUV at the intersection of MacDill & Kennedy about 5PM. He gestured at a 51-year-old man, whose car was behind the SUV, to drive around him. The victim didn't respond as directed so BB jumps out and approaches the sedan with fire in his eye and a hatchet in his hand. He then made threatening gestures with the hatchet at the driver and his 41-year-old female passenger. BB then drives away with the victims following as the BB continues threatening gestures. BB was eventually stopped by Tampa PD, arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Gee, what a surprise! BB was also a bad boy last month since arrested and charged with CCW (Carrying Concealed Weapon) in April. Let's all say "Happy Birthday Scumbag!"
Unfortunately, the third incident occurred in Manatee County had a vastly different outcome with one 14-year-old girl dead and her 12-year-old brother seriously injured. A pest control truck was being chased by some nutjob in a maroon Cadillac, hereafter known as a SMDMC (Scumbag Moroon Driving Maroon Cadillac), who was shooting at the six occupants in the pest control truck. The truck driver ran a red-light and slammed into a Ford Contour driven by a 22-year-old woman who was driving three kids to a skating rink. How much more mundane a task? The SMDMC was captured a few days later and now faces manslaughter charges. See you in 20 years Scumbag! Folks, please be careful on our roads. We seem to be actually accepting these violent, senseless crimes as routine events -- perhaps they are in some regard but definitely not to the victims, survivors and families. Don't play with these scumbags -- once started the scumbag is in control and determines when enough is enough! Jane and I use *FHP when we witness these incidents and we did witness a bad one within two blocks of our home!

Stupid Discharges!
#1 -- "2nd-grader finds gun in backpack" St. Petersburg Times May 5, 2005
#2 -- "Police arrest two teens in school gun case" St. Petersburg Times May 14, 2005
#3 -- "Teens' prank turns bloody" St. Petersburg Times May 24, 2005
#4 -- "Man accidentally shoots himself in leg" St. Petersburg Times June 14, 2005

Some folks just can't get it through their heads -- guns are not toys and must be safeguarded!
       In the first matter, a St. Petersburg 74th Street Elementary School student finds a loaded . 357 Magnum and two bottles of pills in his backpack at the end of the school day. Smart kid -- he immediately showed his teacher the gun and pills. Investigation continues but it appears that it may have been a case of "backpack confusion."
        The second incident involved a 15-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl at Van Buren Middle School in Tampa. The two girls were helping the boy hide a . 38 caliber revolver that he brought to school. These idiots were all arrested and the gun recovered without incident when other students notified school authorities of the firearm and it's location. Once again, smart kids!
       The third event happened in Clearwater on May 23, 2005. Two 15-year-old boys were "playing" with a . 22 cal revolver in the front yard. One of the boys decided to play a prank on his 17-year-old brother. He unloads the gun, walks into the house where his brother is sleeping, points the gun at his brother's head and pulls the trigger and shoots his brother in the head with the "unloaded" gun. The 15-year-old immediately calls 911 while the other 15-year-old who brought the gun to the home flees and tried to hide the gun when apprehended. The 17-year-old later dies of his wounds. Police are still trying to figure out where the gun came from. I am sure it was a perfectly legal sale -- to someone! Gee, is it possible the gun was stolen?
       In the fourth incident, some ignorant 22-year-old Dunedin man is playing with a 9MM pistol. Of course this nimrod shoots himself in the left thigh with the bullet finally lodging in his left calf. His mother (perhaps Mommy would be more appropriate in this case!) throws the gun into a pond or creek behind their residence. Now this is neat because now a diver has to search the body of water for the dadgum gun whose owner is unknown! This mutt will be discharged from the hospital in a few days -- actually he has already been discharged ... from Stupid School!
       Folks, Jane and yours truly, Ed, Harvey & Mark Martenfeld, Dan Trombini and the entire staff of Knight Shooting Sports are absolutely committed to firearms safety for adults but particularly for children. Ed responded to a recent St. Petersburg Times feature story on the mother of the 12-year-old boy shot and killed September 5, 2003, in an absolutely preventable tragedy. One of the mother's pieces of advice was that "If you must keep a gun in the house, it is essential that you keep it unloaded and hidden from children. A further precautionary step you can take is to purchase a gun lock for your firearm." Well, that is well intentioned but not the best advice. Folks, lock up your firearms and ammunition. Hiding doesn't work! I can tell you with total certainty that Jane and I were never able to hide anything in our house from our four children. More bluntly, I believe that children and felons share one trait -- nothing but time to figure how to get into trouble. Knight Shooting Sports has a wide range of reasonably priced security devices that provide security as well as availability. Ed's editorial response was recently published in the St. Petersburg Times:

"Try firearms education"
Re: Teaching children gun safety: In Seanne's stead.

       I wish that Seanne Caroline and all other children who died by accidental shooting and those who accidentally shot them were better equipped and educated to deal with the presence of firearms. Seanne and all those others would now be alive.
       The reality is that children, especially boys, are fascinated with guns, violence and sex. To tell them to leave a gun alone if encountered is okay in the classroom. Unfortunately, that is not reality. just false security. The only way to keep children safe is through education. My advice to parents is:
             1. Take your children to a professional shooting range and introduce them to firearms. Eliminate the "forbidden fruit" syndrome.
             2. Arrange for professional instruction by a qualified firearms instructor.
             3. Make target shooting a fun, safe sport and spend time with your children participating in it. Go over the safety rules each time. The NRA has a great firearms safety program that should be mandatory in schools.
       Children as young as six can be brought to a range, introduced to firearms shooting and, most important, learn firearms safety. Keep our children safe. Save lives.
                                  Edward Martenfeld, St. Petersburg

Self Defense!
"Store clerk, 64, sorry she had to shoot robber" St. Petersburg Times April 16, 2005

Now this is going to be one embarrassed armed robber! This mutt decides to stick up a helpless older woman in a convenience store in Jacksonville. He runs into the store wearing a hood, carrying a . 357 Magnum, hollering for the money and then fires two rounds into the back wall of the business. The lady, a former security guard who is staring down the barrel of a smoking gun, reaches under the counter, pulls out a . 38 pistol and shoots the scumbag in the center of the chest. This moron hits the floor thereby dropping his gun and his hat and then flees from this "helpless" victim while she is pegging two more shots at him. Sure enough, this mental giant shows up at the Orange Park Medical Center and tells the staff that he shot himself. I guess he was too ashamed to admit that he was run off and whupped by a mother of 10 with 32 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. I'll bet you this scumbag loser never brags about that gunfight to his cellmates! He'll swear that it was at least a SWAT team!

Crimes Against Children!
"Eight accused in two days of assaults on girl, 14" St. Petersburg Times April 18, 2005

Crimes against children continue with disgusting regularity my friends. This heinous crime occurred in St. Augustine. The 14-year-old victim was held against her will in a motel room from March 29, 2005, to March 31, 2005, and repeatedly raped by eight men ranging from 16 to 52 years of age. So far, police arrested six of the scumbags with admitting that they were involved. To make it even worse for the child, she knew some of the men! We are all aware of Carlie Bruscia, Jessica Lunsford and Sarah Lunde. We also had an 8-year-old girl kidnapped, raped and left for dead in a trash container a few weeks ago by a 17-year-old illegal immigrant. This has to stop! There is a common thread -- all scumbags have prior records for either crimes of violence, crimes against property or drugs or any combination. Be aware of whom you allow access to your children -- Jennifer and the 8-year-old were raped and/or killed by persons invited into their homes! Keep the scumbags away from your kids and reduce the risk of a tragedy!

STAY SAFE AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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