my brother going to Florida. Defence tools/rights?

Honestly, Id do more research and look up the statutes for yourself if you are really concerned about it. You will get 10 different answers from 20 different people depending who you ask. And if they give you bad information, they arent going to get in trouble, it will be your brother.
Here are the laws

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0790/titl0790.htm

And remember individual counties may have their own regulations also.

He'll be fine, it's very safe here compared to say Paris, Rome, or London. As in any country there are places that he might be less safe such as bad neighborhoods, dealing with people who deal in drugs and trouble, just use common sense.

I am assuming he is coming here as exchange student? If so, he will need to abide by the rules his host family sets which will in large be dictated by the community in which they live and their norms.

A family outside of Ocala could be very different than one in Ft. Lauderdale.

Where in Florida is he going? That can make a huge difference as to the culture he is likely to encounter. North of Tampa and Orlando is pretty much the South culturally, Tampa and Orlando themselves are very mid-western in culture as well as accent. Jupiter and south is kind of a mixed bag as far as culture and ethnicity go with some areas being very Carribbean, South American, African-American, New York/New Jersey transplant with some holdovers in the interior of old Florida.

This is an example of what VICDOTCOM has said.

I am going to disagree with the above post completely. I have been to Paris, even to the "muslim" neigborhoods. No problems really, just a few harsh words and then we came to peace. I have also wandered London so drunk I could not even speak, at all hours of the night. No problems for me. The most that happens in the old world is you get beat up a bit. Anyways, my soldier ( I am in the Army) went home on leave to Tampa a few months ago and got shot at so... (Some guys were apparently driving around shooting at each other and then one of 'em took a few pot shots at him in his dad's car) I have to disagree.

Just be careful. American nightclubs are not like Europe's. The country is devolving lately. Especially the youth. ( I think it has something to do with a goverment who no longer pretends to care about anyone who isn't middle class or up and a poor poluation who no longer cares to work and has no sense of "community". It is also the fault of the people who will not stand up to the criminals. And yes, it is the fault of laws that make defending yourself a criminal act.) However I have never been to Sweden so, who knows?

*I realise this is a generilzation and that people get killed randomly in Europe-It is small potatoes compared to say, Liberty City or someplace like that.

I think your brother should check out Jon Gutmacher's Florida Firearms Law (6th Ed if I recall correctly). He's an attorney and an NRA instructor who "wrote the book" on the subject in FL, and his book is supposed to be used in a bunch of the police academies to teach the subject.

www.floridafirearmslaw.com

I have no connection with Mr Gutmacher or his law firm, I simply bought his book a couple of years ago and I also keep his phone # next to my CWP in case I ever was involved in a S.D. incident.

Worth a look anyway.

I am going to disagree with the above post completely. I have been to Paris, even to the "muslim" neighborhoods. No problems really, just a few harsh words and then we came to peace. I have also wandered London so drunk I could not even speak, at all hours of the night. No problems for me. The most that happens in the old world is you get beat up a bit. Anyways, my soldier ( I am in the Army) went home on leave to Tampa a few months ago and got shot at so... (Some guys were apparently driving around shooting at each other and then one of 'em took a few pot shots at him in his dad's car) I have to disagree.

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I for one have only ever been shot at in Naples, I have only ever been strip searched and harassed at the point of a gun in Austria, I have only been in large brawls with Auslandern in Munich and Albanians/Turks/Gypsies in Rome. So experience varies...

My point is and if you actually check violent crime rates they are higher in those cities than in Ocala (or even scary Tampa). It's not like he is stepping into a Mad Max movie, he is going to Ocala. Hopefully, he'll get to do some hunting and fishing and check out the local girls, if he shows up at his host family's house with a Self Defense book/pepper spray/whatever, trust me when I tell you they are going to think he is a little strange.

My point is that a 16 year old exchange student from Sweden should be fine in Ocala as long as he stays out of drugs, minds his own business and uses a lot of sun block.

In so far as night clubs go, I think the Painted Horse Saloon still has a teen night, not a lot shootings though -- Lol. The only real other night club like location that would be accessable to a 16 year old might be Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney also not a hotbed of gangland like slayings or random "drivebys" from evil Tampanian mutant teenagers.

Your little brother can carry mace (a small can of pepper spray). It can be bought in most stores for about $5. He can carry a pocket knife. These objects will probably not be permitted on school property, especially not the knife, but will everywhere else in society. They will be of little to no help to him though.

What will help your brother is to know that the criminals of Florida are much more shrewd and plotting that their Swedish cousins. He may be asked by normal-looking people in a by-passing car if he knows the location of the post office, with the intention to lure your brother into the car, where he will be robbed, raped and killed. If a policeman, approaching your brother, looks like a policeman for the most part except for the fact that his holster is empty, then he is a fake cop and your brother should not agree to anything, or he will be murdered by the fake cop. Your brother shouldn't leave the group of public, is my best recommendation. Florida has the best people in the world living here, but also the worst people in the world.

I give up, under no circumstances should your brother come to the mean streets of Florida especially the Ocala ghetto, he will be kidnapped and raped almost immediately after landing.

His horrific end will of course be covered up by the Florida Propaganda Bureau (FPB) as established by the even more evil Bush brother Jeb and his malignant sidekick and now governor Charlie "Bang Bang" Crist.

I only survive here each day by doing a tactical roll into each store and clearing it for my family before they are permitted to enter from the back of our armored van. On occasion we will go to the Paddock Mall (going to the mall locally is called "GetErDone Falluja Style") to hone our combat skills for the inevitable collapse of civilization and the war for citrus.

That's it for now, I have to go add more sand bags to the secondary curtain wall we are building around the house and yard.

Note:

I don't know what you guys are up to but scaring some poor kid in Sweden with horror stories about Florida is not High Road and is disgusting.

I feel much safer here in Florida than I did in the 6 years I lived in Virginia Beach/Norfolk, and much safer than I did when I was in Mexico. Sure there are bad neighborhoods, but that is true of any large city. There were plenty of places in Europe where a person is likely to be robbed or worse.

Stop trying to scare the guy. Ocala is fine.

I give up, under no circumstances should your brother come to the mean streets of Florida especially the Ocala ghetto, he will be kidnapped and raped almost immediately after landing.

His horrific end will of course be covered up by the Florida Propaganda Bureau (FPB) as established by the even more evil Bush brother Jeb and his malignant sidekick and now governor Charlie "Bang Bang" Crist.

I only survive here each day by doing a tactical roll into each store and clearing it for my family before they are permitted to enter from the back of our armored van. On occasion we will go to the Paddock Mall (going to the mall locally is called "GetErDone Falluja Style") to hone our combat skills for the inevitable collapse of civilization and the war for citrus.

That's it for now, I have to go add more sand bags to the secondary curtain wall we are building around the house and yard.

Note:

I don't know what you guys are up to but scaring some poor kid in Sweden with horror stories about Florida is not High Road and is disgusting.
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That was a good,civil,hilarious rant,lacoochee. Well done!
I own property in Dunnellon,20 miles southwest of Ocala and visit regularly.
I can't think of a much calmer area of the state than the Ocala vicinity,other the perhaps the small towns of the Panhandle.
This should be a great experience for the 16 year old.There is fine fishing,horse farms that Kentucky could envy,the Ocala National Forest covering thousands of acres,the St. John's River,beautiful old Cedar Key on the Gulf and a lot more.
He'll have a blast,and has been said ,just using simple commonsense, he will get into no trouble worth worrying about.

Fish & Coeds

Ray_ray

For your brother; get a fishing pole and learn how to use it. He is going to the middle of some of the best fresh water fishing on the Planet! My biggest concern would be gators & water moccasins while doing the above fishing.
I grew up in Ft Lauderdale (21 years) and went to school in Orlando(2 years) and Pensacola(2 years) and I just got back from a week just north of Miami with my family.
For protection and general use he might want to bring a folding Fällkniven and leave it with his host family as a gift upon returning. I personally would not recommend carrying fixed blades.
Florida like Kentucky, where I now live, has pretty much put thugs on notice that they are a varmint species detrimental to the tourist trade (the law is against them and there is no bag limit). He however may run into one who hasn’t read the billboards.
Common sense still reigns be; Alert (thugs prefer unaware victims) Avoid (if it look like it might be bad avoid it) if you can’t avoid it deescalate it, if you can’t deescalate it RUN (if prudent blindside your attacker to make your running more effective).
Please tell your brother for me; “Enjoy the fishing, enjoy the coeds and if possible enjoy the diving not necessarily in that order”

Thanks Solo, I am from Dunnellon and my wife is from Crystal River so I know of what you speak, in the future please refrain from letting others know though.

Oops, gotta go some gang banger just rolled up in an F-150 with a 20 foot bayliner in tow, (yes he is my brother and he has gone wrong getting married and joining the Navy were just the beginning of his moral disentegration - damn the kids around here just have no respect, I hope he caught his limit in scallops again).

I am with oldschool and lacoochee,
some of these folks must be writing about a different Florida. I was raised up in the panhandle in the LA(Lower Alabama)/Baja Georgia area and live in the Gainesville area these days. I used to comute to Ocala for a job.

Unless I was being particullarly stupid I have found it to be a much nicer place than some folks on this topic would have you beleive.

Some years ago there was a project to dig a sea level canal across Florida just below (South of) Ocala. This project recieved much support from the Folks of North FLorida as we had hoped that once severed the more southern parts of the state would float away. (just pulling everyone's leg, but it was a popular joke at the time)

I am sure there are places in even Sweden where the young man in question could find some pretty nasty folks and the same is true in FLorida. Better than a weapon is stay out of those places.

16 years old in the US is a minor child. He is five years away from legal drinking and two years away from worrying about any civil rights more than his guardians will allow.

Carrying a knife or other weapon onto a secondary school campus (which I would assume a 16 year old will be attending) is illegal in many (if not most)US states including Florida.

I suspect he will have a good time here.

Just so he won't be shocked; about three times as many private citizens are lisenced to carry a concealed firearm in FLorida as there are law enfocement officers at City, State and federal level.

To date they have been less likely to miss use those firearms than the Law enforcement personel.

Most polls indicate that Florida has firearms in more than one third of its homes.

No specific lisence is required to obtain a firearm in Florida if a person is at least 18 for rifles and shotguns or 21 for handguns. A person my purchase a gun and walk out of the store with it though a federal form is filled out and a telephone instant back ground check is performed, and we have speciffic agencies for that.

My point here is that common folks have the means of self defense, if they are adults. There are not killer zombies on everystreet corner, and chances are the host family will have a pretty good idea of the location of the most heavy populations of zombies.

But, again, a 16 year old is considered a minor child in Florida.

Rather than you asking here, he should be asking his host family.

-Bob Hollingsworth

Ray ray, then he will find Ocala to be like Heaven, if that's your experience in your home country. (Maybe you should consider coming along for the ride)

I know that the Swedish Socialists are trying to make America and the Americans look bad, but Sweden is much worse. You have no right to protect yourselves from the criminal elements in the streets, and so they multiply every year. Your police is totally incompetent and understaffed. Sweden may be the most dangerous country in Europe to visit for anyone, and especially for Americans, because of how the general population hates capitalism. People don't behave like that in America, at least not in areas where the leftwing American Democrats have few supporters. Your little brother doesn't need mace or a knife as long as he doesn't follow strangers to their cars here in Florida.

What you can do for your own safety in Sweden is buy the extremely hot hot-sauce with the name "Mad Dog 357" and dillute it with Swedish pharmaceutical alcohol in a small spray bottle, like a perfume bottle or something. You can not buy "Mad Dog 357" in Sweden, but your little brother may find it in Florida. You can buy it on the Internet too. That blend will make true mace. The sauce is so hot it is inedible. 10,000 times hotter than Tabasco. Spray the punks in their eyes and they go blind.

ray_ray,

Your brother should be alright if he doesn't go looking for trouble. There are exceptions, of course, but a great deal of the violence that occurs here in Florida is thug-on-thug in nature.

Ocala is a fine place - much different from Sweden I'd imagine (especially climate-wise), but nice nonetheless. Eustis, Mount Dora, Tavares are generally safe as well, and if he makes his way to Seminole or Orange counties, Lake Mary/Heathrow, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Avalon Park, Waterford Lakes are generally nicer areas, too.

Places where you may run in to trouble: Pine Hills, Forest City Sanford, Orlando (especially west Orlando), Deltona (Volusia county).

By and large Marion county (Ocala) and Lake county are nice places with a rural atmosphere and a friendly populace, though.