Tips
Tip #83
New
ReciprocalState, More Ugly Local Events & Personal Protection Act?
Good evening Folks. Well, finally some great news on the
reciprocity front – New Mexico was added November 30, 2005. New Mexico is a
“handgun only” state so is reflected as a (1) on the state website. I am going
to include an extract of the latest version with this tip. I am also going to
review a bunch of nasty crap that has happened since Tip #82 and review three
violent events that have been addressed in some uneducated media outlets as
‘Protection of Persons and Property Act’ areas of concern. Please remember to
take a good look at Jon Gutmacher’s analysis of the new act, located on his
website, www.FloridaFirearmsLaw.com.
Personally, I strongly recommend that you purchase Jon’s Sixth Edition of
'Florida Firearms - Law, Use & Ownership'. I have read same twice already
and am most impressed with his effort; simply the best yet and a real bargain
at $26.95. As you are well aware, the holiday season is NOW! If you are out of
time and patience with shopping and need a last minute gift, why not purchase a
personalized gift certificate? Major Norm Belson, Inc. certificates may be used
for CWP classes, Self Defense classes, Tactical classes, Junior Shooting
classes, class package deals, Coronado Leather products to include special
orders, Guardsman alarm systems, Mylar glass protection and home and business
security surveys. If you are a procrastinator, be comforted by the fact that
any gift certificate request that either Jane or I personally receive by 12PM,
December 24, 2005, will be ready for pickup at Knight’s by 3PM December 24,
2005. I still have a good selection of Coronado Leather concealed carry
products in stock at Knight Shooting Sports and will continue to offer an extra
20% discount off the sale price (red tag) on those items through December 24,
2005. All you have to do is present a copy of Tip #83 to receive your extra 20%
off the marked sales price. Of course, please don't forget that Knight Shooting
Sports also offers gift certificates for all kinds of products to include range
time, security devices, ammunition, accessories and so on. Jane and I would
like to wish you and your families a very happy and peaceful Holiday Season and
a safe and prosperous New Year! See you at Knight Shooting Sports! From our
household to yours, Merry Christmas!
Norm & Jane
PS -- Remember, if I may assist with
either training or security concerns, please give me a call or drop me a note!
If you have previously completed the Advanced Tactical class (draw from the
holster), please see the cashier at Knight Shooting Sports. They have a new
waiver for you to sign as well as a new range ID card so that you may resume
drawing from the holster without supervision. Please give me a call at
727-535-9151 if any questions.
Concealed
Carry Reciprocity
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PLEASE NOTE: The reciprocity
information on this page is ALWAYS CURRENT. The Division of Licensing
constantly monitors changing gun laws in other states and attempts to
negotiate agreements as the laws in those states allow. This list was last updated on November 30, 2005, when New
Mexico became the 29th state to enter into an agreement with Florida. With the addition of Section
790.015, Florida Statutes, in 1999, Florida's weapons and firearms law was
amended to allow the Division of Licensing to enter into agreements with
other states on the issue of carrying concealed weapons. To date the Division
has established such agreements with the states listed below. In accordance
with the terms of these pacts, each of these states has extended the
privilege of concealed carry to holders of Florida Concealed Weapon/Firearm
Licenses. The State of Florida has, in turn, extended that same privilege to
the licensees of these states. It is important for license holders
to understand that when they are traveling in or through another state they
are subject to the firearm laws of that state. We have provided links to the
state laws or to the licensing authorities' Web page of each of our
reciprocity states so that licensees can do the necessary planning and
research when preparing to travel. |
Please review http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/news/concealed_carry.html
for the complete text of Concealed Carry Reciprocity. I also strongly recommend
that you frequently review www.packing.org for information concerning
firearm matters throughout the United States. Don’t forget -- ignorance of the
law is not an acceptable excuse!
More Ugly Events
For crying out
loud, you would almost expect a little less ugliness during the Holidays
wouldn’t you? Well, don’t hold your breath! The news since November actually
seems to be worse than usual. I am not one to look at life through rose-colored
glasses but enough is enough dadgum it! Please don’t forget the old police
saying about the holidays – ‘Tis the season to be thieving!’ I don’t think that
we want to add armed robbery, murder, burglary, carjacking, home invasion, and
assorted criminal acts to our shopping list do we? It’s not a bad idea to be a
little extra careful at this time of year. Don’t allow the spirit of the season
to result in reduced concern for your safety and the safety of your family as
well as protection of your property. It’s also not a bad idea to be especially
vigilant in mall parking lots and buddy up whenever possible. Don’t forget to
keep your home, business and car doors and windows locked, activate alarm
systems, do not leave shopping bags and personal property in plain view in your
automobiles, always avoid ATM’s during the hours of darkness and remain aware
and alert at all times!
“Tuesday burglar rifles 24
apartments since May" St. Petersburg Times November 18, 2005
I always admire folks with good work habits. Of
course, I don’t admire this scumbag. He has committed 24 burglaries since
mid-May in North Pinellas. He targets unoccupied medium to high-end apartment
complexes, commits the burglaries between 11AM and 2PM, places putty or chewing
gum over neighboring apartment peepholes and has stolen about $100,000 in
property. It is definitely recommended that you activate your security alarm if
you have one or get one if you don’t. It is also advisable to ID your property
with a driver’s license number, maintain a current inventory of your property,
invest in good locks and doors and then keep them locked and be aware of people
who do not belong in your neighborhood. The burglar, who may have a female
accomplice, is described as either a Hispanic or black male, between 5’10” and
6’ tall, weight about 200 pounds, has a goatee and wears glasses.
“Tampa robber
attempts 4 holdups in 20 minutes” St. Petersburg Times November 18, 2005
Now here is an ambitious and energetic scumbag my
friends! Between 5:30AM and 5:50AM in Tampa, a Hispanic male in his late 20’s,
facial hair, a shaved head and a small caliber handgun, tried a robbery every
five minutes. Three of the attempts involved newspaper delivery folks and the
last one was a pedestrian. Now this mutt proved to be more enthusiastic than
effective and ended up with just one wallet taken from the pedestrian. Maybe he
needs a lesson in the benefits of quality rather than quantity! At least no one
was hurt!
“Teen
killed as brawl rages near school” St. Petersburg Times November 18, 2005 and
“As
school mourns, suspect arrested”
You have heard me speak of unintended
consequences and ramifications. Well, these unexpected ramifications began
November 17, 2005, at
“Shooting,
explosives lead to arrest” St. Petersburg Times November 21, 2005
This happened in St. Petersburg and reinforces
the simple fact that if you allow yourself to be goaded into a physical
confrontation, you may be in mortal jeopardy simply because the other guy may
be a homicidal nut case with a gun or bat or machete or bazooka. Apparently the
35 year-old scumbag shooter was known to his neighbors as ‘eccentric’, if you
will, who did not work, did not socialize, lived with his mother, was involved
in a week long neighborhood dispute and wandered around at night. On November
20, 2005, he walked toward a small cookout half a block from his home, saw a
42-year-old neighbor and yelled “Do you want a piece of me?” The neighbor was
way too eager to accept the challenge so he jumps over a short fence to
confront his antagonist. Unfortunately, if the neighbor was contemplating a
verbal argument and possible fistfight, he was sadly mistaken. The 35-year-old
was armed with a possible homemade shotgun and blasted his neighbor without
warning as the distance between them decreased. Fortunately it was only
birdshot since the hit was in the flesh over his heart. Ooops! It would have
definitely been easier for the neighbor to avoid this mess rather than to try
and survive a shotgun blast to the chest! By the way, when the police arrested
the 38-year-old and searched his home after obtaining a warrant, he was found
to be in possession of four explosive devices and two booby traps! The victim did survive and hopefully will be
a lot smarter next time!
Local
Headlines and a Brief Synopsis
Sorry folks but dadgum it, there have been just
too many nasty events to list them all. I am going to list some for you with
brief explanations. All of the stories appeared in the St. Petersburg Times.
Unfortunately each seems to have a teaching point and deserves mention.
1. “Woman
dragged in tussle for purse” November 8, 2005, “Story
of snatched purse rings familiar” November 9, 2005 and “Woman
with stolen credit card arrested” December 8, 2005.
Unfortunately this is a very familiar scenario. It started with a 78-year-old
in a supermarket parking lot in Tarpon Springs. As the groceries were being put
in her trunk, a young man runs up, grabs her purse, jumps in his (stolen?) car
and begins to leave. She fights for her purse, is dragged 10 to 15 feet and
suffers a broken pelvis and serious bruises – for $14.00, a few credit cards
and an address book! The next day a 69-year-old woman says the same thing
happened to her on November 7, 2005, in a supermarket parking lot in New Port
Richey. However, she understood that her purse was ONLY
PROPERTY and did not fight. She did get in the last word though. “You
stupid son of bitch! I’m standing here reading your license plate!” Cool – I
really like feisty, smart ladies. On December 6, 2005, a 42-year-old woman was
arrested with the 78-year-olds credit card. She was with a man who was arrested
previously for using stolen credit cards. Ladies, this is the time of year that
this type of theft becomes more prevalent. Watch your property closely. If
there is a theft, let the purse as well as other property go! It is not worth a
serious injury to protect property. I do recommend that you create a list of
all credit cards with contact numbers and immediately begin the process of
reporting as stolen to the issuers. This will reduce your liability, frustrate
the thief and maybe result in the scumbag’s well deserved arrest! By the way,
don’t forget to also contact the three credit bureaus (Experian, Certegy and
Transunion) to report the theft – will help prevent Identity Theft!
2. “Police
examine stabbing, shooting” November 15, 2005. Clearwater Police were
busy on November 12 & 13. There was a stabbing of a 38-year-old woman as
the result of an argument. Amazing how verbal crap seems to escalate. The next
day there was a shooting in a low rent motel with an extensive history of
criminal acts. The 37-year-old victim was shot multiple times but is expected
to recover. In addition, a 53-year-old man was beaten to death with a blunt
instrument as he was leaving for work for work November 2, 2005, and a
58-year-old man was found stabbed to death in his mobile home November 3, 2005
3. “
4. “Woman
dies after deputies shock her with stun gun” November 28, 2005. Here is
another example of unintended consequences. A 35-year-old
5. “Intruder
forces East Lake woman to get cash” December 2, 2005. Well, here
we go again! East Lake is a gated community thereby misleading the residents
into a false sense of security. A woman drops off her child at school and
returns home. She walks into the house and is confronted by a tall sandy-haired
stranger who is wearing sunglasses and rubber gloves. He tells her that he has
a gun in the plastic bag that is over his hand.
He forces her to lie down on the floor, takes her cell phone and steals
jewelry. He then forces her to drive to a bank and cash a check while he
repeatedly tells her that she will not be harmed if she complies. After the
forced withdrawal the scumbag forces the victim to drop him off in another EAST
LAKE WOODLANDS subdivision! Oh, by the way, he gains entry through an open
garage door! This seems very familiar folks. Lock your (expletive deleted!)
doors, windows, garages and sliders for crying out loud. This is the third
burglary through unsecured entrances in the last three months. Check out Tips #
81 and #82. At least this woman was apparently not injured except for her peace
of mind!
Well, how about a change of pace? Did you read
the November 30, 2005, St. Petersburg Times story about the “alleged” car
burglar in Bradenton? An armed security guard stated that he saw a man breaking
into a car about 2AM and confronted him. The burglar fled with the security
guard in hot pursuit. The “alleged scumbag” stopped and pointed a gun at the
guard. The guard fired twice and adios “alleged” bad guy! Deputies later found
the “alleged burglar” dead in a unit under construction. The gun he “allegedly”
pointed at the guard was “actually” a pellet gun my friends! Scumbags should
not bring pellet guns to gunfights! In my opinion folks, this is a reasonable,
prudent and necessary end to a criminal career. The next two articles really
bother me because the deaths were absolutely preventable with education and
locks. “19-year-old accidentally
shoots, kills self” St. Petersburg Times December 9, 2005 and “Gun
goes off; boy, 4 dies” St. Petersburg Times December 19, 2005. The death of the 19-year-old is typical for
so many stupid discharges. The deceased and two friends arrive at a friend’s
home shortly after midnight and begin (or continue) drinking. Approximately
3:30AM, as they were basically playing with a Glock 19 autoloader, the
19-year-old assumes the gun was unloaded because the magazine well was clear.
It wasn’t – he shot himself and died. Education folks and for Pete’s Sake,
don’t handle dangerous devices such as guns and automobiles when you have been
drinking. The next one flat pisses me off as it always does. Two boys, one four
and the other five, were playing in a bedroom in the younger boy’s home. The
headline reads that the “Gun goes off”. What a crock. The gun didn’t go off –
one of the boys, probably the victim,
pulled the trigger and he was shot in the head and killed. This is a
definitive violation of FSS 790.174 and the Maroon who owns the gun should be
sent to prison for life dadgum it as well as the mother who failed to assure
her son’s safety. The parents of the other boy said that it “was a tragic
accident” and that is an even bigger crock – it was the result of gross
negligence by some pea-brained adult scumbag. Hopefully that idiot will have a
new home for about 20 years!
Protection
of Persons and Property Act?
Please carefully read each of the three news
stories and then analyze whether the incident was apparently a lawful use of
deadly force and in compliance with the provisions of the new act. Once you say
yea or nay, come up with valid reasons in support of your decision. My opinion
will be found at the end of the three articles. Let’s see how close we
are!
“Shooting
of three ends in surrender” St.
Petersburg Times November 19, 2005
A 44-year-old man has been embroiled in an
ongoing neighborhood dispute. He repeatedly complained to Clearwater PD that
his neighbors “were out to get him.” Clearwater PD had responded to his home in
regard to these complaints eight times in 2005 in regard to battery and
burglary. At 1:51AM, November 18, 2005, he observed (police talk – we don’t
see, we observe!) four people on his front porch. The four people were carrying
tiki torches. The front door was locked and the four persons remained outside
and did not apparently attempt entry. The 44-year-old homeowner then fired six
shots from an unknown firearm (probably a revolver) through the door wounding
three of the four persons at the front door. The fourth person then fled (good
decision). The homeowner then called Clearwater PD to report the shooting and
barricaded himself in his home until 9:30AM when he was taken into custody. He
was uncooperative during the arrest and had to be tased and shot with a rubber
bullet. He claimed that they were trying to break in. The three wounded persons
initially advised that they were walking in the street but later admitted that
they lied and were, in fact, on his front porch. The fourth person finally
admitted that he was also on the porch. Self-defense, aggravated battery with a
deadly weapon or attempted murder?
“A
fight. A stabbing. One dead. In face of new law, is it a crime?” St. Petersburg Times December 9, 2005
This occurred in Tampa. A 21-year-old man
initiates a fistfight with a 38-year-old man over “some property of his that
got damaged. ” As a gentle reminder, the younger man then kicked the older man
in the head with a steel-toed boot. After doing so, the aggressor walked across
the street to an attorney’s office. An office worker asked the 21-year-old to
leave the office but he refused. A 36-year-old paralegal then confronted the
aggressor and the two began shoving each other, which escalated into a fight. The
initial aggressor fled the scene with the paralegal in pursuit. The paralegal
caught him and then stabbed the 21-year-old
to death with a pocketknife. Self- defense, aggravated battery with a
deadly weapon or murder?
“Quarreling
co-owners take shoptalk to jail” St. Petersburg Times December 14, 2005
This is a
My Analysis:
1. Reference
the shooting of three – no contest in my opinion. The shooter’s actions do not
seem to be prudent, reasonable and necessary. I would arrest him without a
doubt. Subjectively he may have imagined that they were going to burn down his
house but that should prove to be a real objective reach for those viewing his
actions. I consider his best course of action would have been to retreat to his
safe room, contact Clearwater PD and only use his firearm if the neighbors had
breached the perimeter. Don’t feel too bad if you disagree – according to the
St. Pete Times on December 8, 2005, the prosecutors are unsure of the charges,
if any, against any of the persons involved. Smells like a legal
interpretation! By the way, the shooter is a retired USF police sergeant.
Thankfully he is not one of my students!
2. Reference
a fight – once again in my opinion, the paralegal’s actions after the
21-year-old fled the law office do not appear to be prudent, reasonable and
necessary. Once the 21-year-old went from being an aggressor to the pursued,
the paralegal appears to have clearly lost his victim status and became the
aggressor. His actions in chasing the 21-year-old and then stabbing him to
death should earn him a lengthy stay in the ‘Graybar Hotel’. Actually I can’t believe that the author of
this article would even mention the act. Perhaps he would have been better
educated if the St. Petersburg Times had actually responded to my multiple
invitations to have a representative attend Jon Gutmacher’s excellent October
1, 2005, seminar! Smells like an editorial to me! Once again, not one of my
students!
3. Reference
quarreling owners – this is real neat. In my opinion, the two morons with the
bats deserved to have a gun pointed at them and, if they had continued their
attack, deserved to be exposed to a level of force reasonable and necessary to
terminate their criminal behavior. There is little doubt that the man with the
gun could articulate a well-founded fear that getting hit with a bat would
result in either death or great bodily injury. This appears to be both
subjectively and objectively reasonable. It sure as Hell is to me my friends
based on the fact that the worst head injury I ever saw was the result of a bat
vigorously applied to the head. However, I always love a good twist to a
self-defense scenario! If the man with the gun is actually a convicted felon,
he may receive more time in prison than the scumbags with the bats!
Gratefully – no students in this group
either!
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."