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Orlando victims scare off armed robbers with own guns
Orlando Sentinel ^ | November 7, 2007 | Henry Pierson Curtis

Posted on 11/07/2007 8:20:29 AM PST by subterfuge

Two holders of concealed-weapons permits surprised armed thugs in west Orlando this week.

Both men opened fire rather than surrender...

Amezaga said Tuesday. "If more people stood up for themselves, a lot of crime could be prevented. And the concealed-weapons permit, that's great."

The men say they exercised their constitutional right to own guns, carried them legally and defended themselves within the state's deadly force law.

Amezaga, 25, and Stephen Soto, 23, were...outside Soto's apartment when two strangers walked by them two or three times...when both strangers walked up to Amezaga's parked car, where the men were standing.

"What time is it?" one of the strangers asked.

Soto looked down at his watch and said, "It is 6:10."...Soto heard the stranger say, "Hey, run them," as the man drew a black snub-nose revolver from the pouch in his sweat shirt.

As Soto pulled a 9 mm Keltec pistol from his right front pants pocket, he heard the robber's gunfire and felt a bullet graze his left shin, breaking the skin. Still standing, Soto fired two or three times before both robbers turned and ran, the report states.

"They tried to rob me and my homeboy," Soto said..."If I didn't have a concealed-weapons permit, it would have been a lot worse."

Amezaga and Soto bought their pistols after becoming concerned about Orlando's increase in violent crime.

Nearly 20,000 people in Orange County legally carry concealed firearms...

Soto...arrived four years ago from New York and obtained his concealed-weapons permit last year. Amezaga, a warehouse worker who moved here eight years ago from Puerto Rico, also obtained a permit last year. Both practice at public gun ranges in Orlando and Apopka.

"It could have been real bad last night if it wasn't for the quick thinking and our concealed-weapons permits," he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: armedcitizen; banglist; florida; orlandosentinel; rkba; rtc; secondamendment; selfdefense
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I have got to get a CCW permit. Our local sheriff is mostly concerned with good publicity, setting up his buddies in cushy desk jobs and buying assault vehicles and planes instead of putting deputies on the streets.
1 posted on 11/07/2007 8:20:30 AM PST by subterfuge
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To: subterfuge

Kevin Beary where are you?


2 posted on 11/07/2007 8:21:01 AM PST by subterfuge (HILLARY IS: She who must not be Dismayed)
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To: subterfuge
That's the ticket. A gun will really stop a criminal far better than the police.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

3 posted on 11/07/2007 8:22:09 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: subterfuge

This article is heavily *snipped* so I could fit this excerpt in with most of the relevant info.

It’s odd that my tagline doesn’t appear upon posting the article, fwiw.


4 posted on 11/07/2007 8:22:43 AM PST by subterfuge (HILLARY IS: She who must not be Dismayed)
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To: subterfuge

“What time is it” is a classic opening line to a robbery.

Time to buy a watch, that’s what time it is thugee.

Kleck’s study showed that he vast majority of the time, merely brandishing a weapon is enough to stop a criminal in their tracks, actual shoot outs are very rare.


5 posted on 11/07/2007 8:26:21 AM PST by padre35 (Conservative in Exile/ Isaiah 3.3)
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To: subterfuge

Oh that’s not true, the local police chief says that bad guys will take the gun from you and may use it on you... cough bullSh!T cough cough....


6 posted on 11/07/2007 8:27:07 AM PST by MD_Willington_1976
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To: subterfuge

No happy ending?

Sounds like the good guys need some more practice at the range! Center of mass...squeeze.


7 posted on 11/07/2007 8:28:55 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel
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To: subterfuge

The Casselberry gun range in Orlando has had CCW courses booked solid for the last year.

Areas of Orlando are freaking war zones though, it’s a crazy situation. Population has grown over 20% in 7 years, and civil society has a real hard time spreading roots in such a transient population.


8 posted on 11/07/2007 8:30:21 AM PST by JerseyHighlander
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To: subterfuge
Soto said..."If I didn't have a concealed-weapons permit, it would have been a lot worse."

All the permit did for you is reduce the hassle afterward. What made the difference was the 9 mm Keltec.

BTW, nice writing. Gave the info I wanted to know.

9 posted on 11/07/2007 8:36:28 AM PST by magslinger (cranky right-winger)
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To: MD_Willington_1976
Oh that’s not true, the local police chief says that bad guys will take the gun from you and may use it on you... cough bullSh!T cough cough....

He doesn't carry a weapon for that reason I take it?

10 posted on 11/07/2007 8:38:14 AM PST by magslinger (cranky right-winger)
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To: subterfuge
"What time is it?" one of the strangers asked.

One night, my wife and I went to LoDo, Denver to meet some friends for a birthday celebration. We parallel parked on a street near the restaurant and as I walked from the driver's side toward the curb a Latino and his friend approached me and asked for the time. Without hesitating, I yelled, "Get the ef away from me!" The troubling thing was my wife was so shocked by my confrontational manner she stood there in shock instead of making a beeline toward safety.

11 posted on 11/07/2007 8:42:09 AM PST by Nephi ( $100m ante is a symptom of the old media... the Ron Paul Revolution is the new media's choice.)
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To: subterfuge
I love it when these news stories get out...enough to let the bad guys know that "we're packing" here in FL and they can't be sure just which of us are and aren't carrying.

That makes it a coin toss as to how lucky the perp is feeling and perps don't like those odds at all.

12 posted on 11/07/2007 8:43:58 AM PST by capt. norm (Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.)
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To: magslinger

Oh no, he carries a sidearm... doesn’t believe his own BS I guess...


13 posted on 11/07/2007 8:46:02 AM PST by MD_Willington_1976
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To: capt. norm

So many thugs, so little ammo...

TC


14 posted on 11/07/2007 8:49:03 AM PST by Pentagon Leatherneck
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To: goldstategop

“A Glock in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.” – Somebody
“When seconds count, the cops are only minutes away,”
“I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.”

Glock when a 5 minute response time is a death sentence.


15 posted on 11/07/2007 8:51:11 AM PST by Recon Dad (Marine Spec Ops Dad)
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To: subterfuge
From the article:
...Amezaga drew his .357 Magnum Sig Sauer pistol and fired eight or nine times ...

Where canI get a 357 Magnum Sig? Or a 357 Sig Magnum. Or something.

Still, I'm being picky. Good article, and the only thing that could have made the story better would be a traial of blood leading to a barely alive perp.

16 posted on 11/07/2007 8:54:50 AM PST by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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To: subterfuge
Soto fired two or three times before both robbers turned and ran

Both practice at public gun ranges in Orlando and Apopka

Sounds to me like Soto could use a bit more practice ...

17 posted on 11/07/2007 9:06:41 AM PST by tx_eggman ("Believing without loving turns the best of creeds into a weapon of oppression" Eugene Peterson)
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To: DaveLoneRanger

Perhaps for the armed citizen ping list


18 posted on 11/07/2007 9:06:42 AM PST by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: MD_Willington_1976
Oh no, he carries a sidearm... doesn’t believe his own BS I guess...

That makes at least three of us. Aren't you glad that you were able to find common ground with him?

19 posted on 11/07/2007 9:12:12 AM PST by magslinger (cranky right-winger)
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To: tx_eggman

Maybe, but when I practice at the range or at IDPA events, no one first fired at me and grazed my shin. ;-)

All in all, a very sucessful encounter with the BGs, IMO.


20 posted on 11/07/2007 9:22:41 AM PST by dashing doofus (Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber)
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