P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/dec/02/beths_got_gun23826/
After attack at florist shop, victim becomes 'the victor' by getting a
permit to carry
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Beth's got a gun
Beth Ferguson gets instruction as she prepares to fire a .22 caliber gun
under the supervision of firearms instructor Frank DiNardo as she trains for
her concealed weapons permit. Ferguson was brutally attacked and tied up by
a man after she stopped by a North Charleston flower shop to pick up an
order.
She was beaten, kicked in the face, gagged, tied to a chair and locked in a
closet.
After escaping that nightmare, Beth Ferguson needed nearly two weeks to
garner the courage to step out of her home. Her first trip was to church,
her safe haven.
She went on a Saturday night, hoping fewer people would be there as opposed
to the heavily attended Sunday morning service. But it was packed.
"It's odd, because when you're a victim of something like this, you almost
begin to act like a victim. I got real overwhelmed and nervous. I was scared
half to death, and I didn't know why," Beth said. "Have you ever seen a
scary movie and been scared afterward? That's what it's like."
She endured the glances from curious church members, who couldn't help but
see the bruises and cuts on her face. After that night, Beth decided she
needed to return to a normal life. But she still felt violated, unsafe. She
was living in fear.
Her second trip out of the house: a gun shop on Cross County Road in North
Charleston.
"I'm going back to work one day," Beth said. "And when I do, I'll have a
gun."
The attack; the recovery
Beth, 41, was the only customer in the Carolina Florist shop on Ashley
Phosphate Road late in the afternoon on April 10.
The man behind the counter advised her to look through a book so she could
pick out a corsage for her son's prom. Suddenly, he held a knife to her
throat.
She fought, but he choked her until she was unconscious. She woke up to find
him standing over her. When she fought again, he kicked her in the face
until she agreed to cooperate.
In the locked closet, Beth sat tied to a chair, a tennis ball stuffed in her
mouth. But then the man drove away, and Beth seized the moment to free
herself. After she climbed through the false ceiling and dropped down into
the bathroom next door, she smashed her way out through the front glass
window to freedom.
Lemar "Tommy" Mack, the 45-year-old husband of the florist shop owner, was
arrested two days later. He was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and
assault and battery with intent to kill.
Mack had previously been convicted and served jail time for abducting a
woman at a Kmart on Rivers Avenue and raping her. He also had been convicted
for attacking women in 1979 and 1984. He remains at the Charleston County
Detention Center because he can't make the $3 million bail.
Beth has filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Mack and his wife, Deborah
Mack, and Carolina Florist.
Kidnapping victim Beth Ferguson talks with firearms instructor Frank DiNardo
June 11 at Trader World Gun Shop as she tries to decide which gun to buy.
Ferguson was beaten and tied up inside a locked closet at Carolina Florist
on Ashley Phosphate Road.
Weeks after the attack, she walked into a gun shop for the first time.
A steady stream of customers flowed in and out of Trader World Gun & Indoor
Range, where dozens of shotguns, rifles and assault weapons line the walls.
Shaking, Beth headed for the glass encasement filled with handguns. It runs
the length of the shop. Boxes of ammunition sat on the counter. Behind it
stood Frank DiNardo, a handgun in a holster on his side.
Frank, a firearms instructor for nearly 30 years, was expecting Beth. Her
instruction began with their first handshake - firm, thumb straight forward,
not to the side.
"That's how you hold a gun," Frank told her.
As the two talked, Beth saw a fellow church member from Cathedral of Praise.
The woman had heard of Beth's kidnapping; she was there to buy pepper spray.
Several women from the church, in fact, had come in for spray and stun guns.
A group of them was considering purchasing handguns. One of them already was
receiving private firearms instruction from Frank.
Beth asked Frank if she needed to buy her gun before her firearms lessons
began.
"You're not ready," he said. He worried about her emotional state so soon
after the attack.
"One minute I'm fine, and the next, I'm crying for no reason," she had told
him. Counseling sessions were being arranged.
Frank scheduled her gun classes to start about 10 days after their first
meeting. Four hours each class. Five classes. Maybe then she would be ready,
Frank said.
Frank sees a difference between the sexes when it comes to buying a gun.
Men tend to walk in and buy on the spot, then schedule only the training
required if they decide to apply for a concealed weapons permit.
Women are more cautious. They want to learn how to properly handle and fire
a gun first, then decide if they will buy, Frank said.
Frank recommends taking three courses before the purchase - a basic course
in the handling, firing and storing of a handgun; a personal protection
course; and a course on carrying concealed handguns.
On May 6, Beth started classes, and she found a new friend in her
instructor. Frank listened as she told him her story and cried.
"We're going to go through this together," he said.
The bruises on her face had healed. Some redness in her left eye was the
only visible trace of the assault.
"My outside's healed a lot, but my inside needs healing," Beth said.
She cried less often, and she and her husband had resumed their weekly date
nights. Still, she sometimes had panic attacks when she was alone, or if she
saw someone who looked like the man who attacked her.
She found strength in the 100-plus cards and letters from friends and
strangers. She resolved to arm herself with a gun.
"What the Lord told me is, 'You're going to be the victor, not the victim.'
"
A gun in the hand
The three basic rules for handling a gun were in large, capital letters on a
screen in the training room May 6:
ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE GUN IS UNLOADED.
ALWAYS POINT THE GUN IN A SAFE DIRECTION.
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER.
Frank takes a slow and easy approach to teaching people how to use handguns.
He starts with a toy gun, then uses dummy cartridges to teach people how to
load a real revolver.
In the hot, darkened firing range, the first gun Beth shot was an air
pistol. The recoil is slight when the gun is fired, and it makes little
noise. She fired at inflated balloons, which made a pop that helped prepare
her for the sound of a gun blast.
Next, Beth brought in a .22- caliber pistol. It is loud, and the recoil made
her hand jiggle slightly as she shot off 10 rounds at the target - a paper
figure of a man. Tiny puffs of smoke wafted from the gun, and the metal
casings pinged against the concrete floor beneath her.
Beth grinned. "It's not so bad."
June brought a different Beth to the Trader World gun shop for her second
class.
She prepared a short speech for a judge when her accused assailant requested
that his bond be reduced. She was relieved when she learned the judge would
not consider it.
A counselor had helped her deal with post-trauma stress. Panic attacks came
less frequently, and she felt much stronger.
Frank took off the kid gloves and put a 9 mm pistol in Beth's hands.
A startling blast and a bright red flash erupted from the gun, and Beth's
hand jumped upward. She winced and then stood motionless in a cloud of gray
smoke.
"Your whole body just jolts. It was so powerful. I felt like I couldn't
control it," she said.
Beth learned that choosing a firearm is like buying a good pair of shoes. It
has to fit.
The 9 mm was too much. The .38-caliber revolver was easier to control - less
recoil, but the trigger was more difficult to pull and it had no safety
lock. She definitely wanted her gun to have a safety feature.
Something between those two, a .380-caliber pistol, seemed just right.
Moderate recoil, good control and a safety lock. It was small to boot - the
perfect concealable weapon.
Back to work
By mid-June, Beth felt a lot more like her old self - the one who was strong
and trusting and confident.
She had vowed not to return to work without a firearm, but she was needed to
help run the six mattress stores she and her husband own. Pepper spray would
do while she finished her firearms classes and applied for her concealed
weapons permit.
Her first day back overwhelmed and frightened her. Finding a full day too
much at first, she eased herself back to work.
"Baby steps," Beth said.
With the basic gun course behind her, Beth started an eight-hour concealed
weapons course that would teach her the laws about guns.
Although citizens with a permit can carry a weapon, the gun cannot be
visible. Beth experimented with a variety of options, including keeping her
gun in her purse, in her pocket or in a holster on her hip or ankle. She
quickly ruled out keeping it in her purse, because one of the first things
her attacker did was take her purse.
"If there was a gun in my purse, he would have had it," Beth said.
The big day
On July 2, Beth was strong again, empowered even. She held a pistol with
conviction as she stepped onto the range for the shooting test for her
concealed weapons permit. She had to hit the target at least 35 times out of
50 shots, and she made it look easy.
"She shot a 46 out of a possible 50," Frank said. "She did extremely well."
Beth aced her written test as well, and the permit application was off in
the mail.
In mid-October Beth's concealed weapons permit arrived. She met up with
Frank and purchased the little .380-caliber pistol that she had eyed months
earlier.
The attack earlier in the spring was behind her. Beth has her life back, and
now she's packing heat.
"If I'm in a situation that's life or death, I want to live," she said. "So
I'm prepared."
To get an S.C. concealed weapons permit
Requirements for acquiring a concealed weapons permit in South Carolina:
--Age 21 or older
--Resident of South Carolina for at least 90 days
--Have three photographs taken
--Eye exam
--Fingerprinting ($5)
--South Carolina identification card or driver's license
--Eight-hour concealed weapons course, which includes instruction on handgun
storage, use and safety and information about state gun laws
--County, state and federal background checks
--$50 application fee
Handgun purchase requirements in S.C.
Like any other person walking into a gun shop, Beth Ferguson was subject to
a federal firearms purchase law.
Law-abiding citizens will find a gun fairly easy to buy. There is no waiting
period in South Carolina, and you can generally be in and out of a shop with
your new gun in less than an hour.
Show proof that you are age 21 or older and have lived in South Carolina for
at least 90 days. A driver's license will do. The gun shop calls for a
federal background check and has a response in about 20 minutes.
Not everyone can buy a gun. Felons, fugitives, drug users, illegal aliens,
the mentally ill and people who have been convicted of domestic violence are
among those restricted from owning firearms in the United States. Even if a
potential buyer is not prohibited for one of those reasons, the gun dealer
can refuse the sale for any reason.
--Age 21 or older
--Resident of South Carolina for at least 90 days
--South Carolina identification card or driver's license
--Federal background check (generally takes about 20 minutes)
--Note: There is no waiting period for a gun purchase in South Carolina.
Who can't buy a gun
--People who have pending charges for or have been convicted of a felony
punishable by more than one year in prison or a misdemeanor punishable by
more than two years in prison
--Fugitives
--Users of illegal drugs and those who have been convicted of
controlled-substance crimes within the past year
--Any person who, in a court proceeding, has been involuntarily committed to
a mental institution or has been deemed mentally defective or incompetent
--Illegal aliens
--Someone who has been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces
--A person who has renounced United States citizenship
--Anyone who is the subject of a restraining order
--People convicted of criminal domestic violence
Places a gun can't go in the Palmetto State
Where you can't take a gun in South Carolina:
--Law enforcement building
--Detention facility
--Courthouse
--Polling place on election day
--Government building
--School
--School athletic event
--Day care or preschool
--Religious sanctuary
--Medical facility
--Publicly-owned building
--Someone's home without their permission
--A building with signs posted that state "No Concealable Weapons Allowed"
--An establishment, including restaurants, where alcohol is served for
consumption on premises
After attack at florist shop, victim becomes 'the victor' by getting a
permit to carry
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Beth's got a gun
Beth Ferguson gets instruction as she prepares to fire a .22 caliber gun
under the supervision of firearms instructor Frank DiNardo as she trains for
her concealed weapons permit. Ferguson was brutally attacked and tied up by
a man after she stopped by a North Charleston flower shop to pick up an
order.
She was beaten, kicked in the face, gagged, tied to a chair and locked in a
closet.
After escaping that nightmare, Beth Ferguson needed nearly two weeks to
garner the courage to step out of her home. Her first trip was to church,
her safe haven.
She went on a Saturday night, hoping fewer people would be there as opposed
to the heavily attended Sunday morning service. But it was packed.
"It's odd, because when you're a victim of something like this, you almost
begin to act like a victim. I got real overwhelmed and nervous. I was scared
half to death, and I didn't know why," Beth said. "Have you ever seen a
scary movie and been scared afterward? That's what it's like."
She endured the glances from curious church members, who couldn't help but
see the bruises and cuts on her face. After that night, Beth decided she
needed to return to a normal life. But she still felt violated, unsafe. She
was living in fear.
Her second trip out of the house: a gun shop on Cross County Road in North
Charleston.
"I'm going back to work one day," Beth said. "And when I do, I'll have a
gun."
The attack; the recovery
Beth, 41, was the only customer in the Carolina Florist shop on Ashley
Phosphate Road late in the afternoon on April 10.
The man behind the counter advised her to look through a book so she could
pick out a corsage for her son's prom. Suddenly, he held a knife to her
throat.
She fought, but he choked her until she was unconscious. She woke up to find
him standing over her. When she fought again, he kicked her in the face
until she agreed to cooperate.
In the locked closet, Beth sat tied to a chair, a tennis ball stuffed in her
mouth. But then the man drove away, and Beth seized the moment to free
herself. After she climbed through the false ceiling and dropped down into
the bathroom next door, she smashed her way out through the front glass
window to freedom.
Lemar "Tommy" Mack, the 45-year-old husband of the florist shop owner, was
arrested two days later. He was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and
assault and battery with intent to kill.
Mack had previously been convicted and served jail time for abducting a
woman at a Kmart on Rivers Avenue and raping her. He also had been convicted
for attacking women in 1979 and 1984. He remains at the Charleston County
Detention Center because he can't make the $3 million bail.
Beth has filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Mack and his wife, Deborah
Mack, and Carolina Florist.
Kidnapping victim Beth Ferguson talks with firearms instructor Frank DiNardo
June 11 at Trader World Gun Shop as she tries to decide which gun to buy.
Ferguson was beaten and tied up inside a locked closet at Carolina Florist
on Ashley Phosphate Road.
Weeks after the attack, she walked into a gun shop for the first time.
A steady stream of customers flowed in and out of Trader World Gun & Indoor
Range, where dozens of shotguns, rifles and assault weapons line the walls.
Shaking, Beth headed for the glass encasement filled with handguns. It runs
the length of the shop. Boxes of ammunition sat on the counter. Behind it
stood Frank DiNardo, a handgun in a holster on his side.
Frank, a firearms instructor for nearly 30 years, was expecting Beth. Her
instruction began with their first handshake - firm, thumb straight forward,
not to the side.
"That's how you hold a gun," Frank told her.
As the two talked, Beth saw a fellow church member from Cathedral of Praise.
The woman had heard of Beth's kidnapping; she was there to buy pepper spray.
Several women from the church, in fact, had come in for spray and stun guns.
A group of them was considering purchasing handguns. One of them already was
receiving private firearms instruction from Frank.
Beth asked Frank if she needed to buy her gun before her firearms lessons
began.
"You're not ready," he said. He worried about her emotional state so soon
after the attack.
"One minute I'm fine, and the next, I'm crying for no reason," she had told
him. Counseling sessions were being arranged.
Frank scheduled her gun classes to start about 10 days after their first
meeting. Four hours each class. Five classes. Maybe then she would be ready,
Frank said.
Frank sees a difference between the sexes when it comes to buying a gun.
Men tend to walk in and buy on the spot, then schedule only the training
required if they decide to apply for a concealed weapons permit.
Women are more cautious. They want to learn how to properly handle and fire
a gun first, then decide if they will buy, Frank said.
Frank recommends taking three courses before the purchase - a basic course
in the handling, firing and storing of a handgun; a personal protection
course; and a course on carrying concealed handguns.
On May 6, Beth started classes, and she found a new friend in her
instructor. Frank listened as she told him her story and cried.
"We're going to go through this together," he said.
The bruises on her face had healed. Some redness in her left eye was the
only visible trace of the assault.
"My outside's healed a lot, but my inside needs healing," Beth said.
She cried less often, and she and her husband had resumed their weekly date
nights. Still, she sometimes had panic attacks when she was alone, or if she
saw someone who looked like the man who attacked her.
She found strength in the 100-plus cards and letters from friends and
strangers. She resolved to arm herself with a gun.
"What the Lord told me is, 'You're going to be the victor, not the victim.'
"
A gun in the hand
The three basic rules for handling a gun were in large, capital letters on a
screen in the training room May 6:
ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE GUN IS UNLOADED.
ALWAYS POINT THE GUN IN A SAFE DIRECTION.
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER.
Frank takes a slow and easy approach to teaching people how to use handguns.
He starts with a toy gun, then uses dummy cartridges to teach people how to
load a real revolver.
In the hot, darkened firing range, the first gun Beth shot was an air
pistol. The recoil is slight when the gun is fired, and it makes little
noise. She fired at inflated balloons, which made a pop that helped prepare
her for the sound of a gun blast.
Next, Beth brought in a .22- caliber pistol. It is loud, and the recoil made
her hand jiggle slightly as she shot off 10 rounds at the target - a paper
figure of a man. Tiny puffs of smoke wafted from the gun, and the metal
casings pinged against the concrete floor beneath her.
Beth grinned. "It's not so bad."
June brought a different Beth to the Trader World gun shop for her second
class.
She prepared a short speech for a judge when her accused assailant requested
that his bond be reduced. She was relieved when she learned the judge would
not consider it.
A counselor had helped her deal with post-trauma stress. Panic attacks came
less frequently, and she felt much stronger.
Frank took off the kid gloves and put a 9 mm pistol in Beth's hands.
A startling blast and a bright red flash erupted from the gun, and Beth's
hand jumped upward. She winced and then stood motionless in a cloud of gray
smoke.
"Your whole body just jolts. It was so powerful. I felt like I couldn't
control it," she said.
Beth learned that choosing a firearm is like buying a good pair of shoes. It
has to fit.
The 9 mm was too much. The .38-caliber revolver was easier to control - less
recoil, but the trigger was more difficult to pull and it had no safety
lock. She definitely wanted her gun to have a safety feature.
Something between those two, a .380-caliber pistol, seemed just right.
Moderate recoil, good control and a safety lock. It was small to boot - the
perfect concealable weapon.
Back to work
By mid-June, Beth felt a lot more like her old self - the one who was strong
and trusting and confident.
She had vowed not to return to work without a firearm, but she was needed to
help run the six mattress stores she and her husband own. Pepper spray would
do while she finished her firearms classes and applied for her concealed
weapons permit.
Her first day back overwhelmed and frightened her. Finding a full day too
much at first, she eased herself back to work.
"Baby steps," Beth said.
With the basic gun course behind her, Beth started an eight-hour concealed
weapons course that would teach her the laws about guns.
Although citizens with a permit can carry a weapon, the gun cannot be
visible. Beth experimented with a variety of options, including keeping her
gun in her purse, in her pocket or in a holster on her hip or ankle. She
quickly ruled out keeping it in her purse, because one of the first things
her attacker did was take her purse.
"If there was a gun in my purse, he would have had it," Beth said.
The big day
On July 2, Beth was strong again, empowered even. She held a pistol with
conviction as she stepped onto the range for the shooting test for her
concealed weapons permit. She had to hit the target at least 35 times out of
50 shots, and she made it look easy.
"She shot a 46 out of a possible 50," Frank said. "She did extremely well."
Beth aced her written test as well, and the permit application was off in
the mail.
In mid-October Beth's concealed weapons permit arrived. She met up with
Frank and purchased the little .380-caliber pistol that she had eyed months
earlier.
The attack earlier in the spring was behind her. Beth has her life back, and
now she's packing heat.
"If I'm in a situation that's life or death, I want to live," she said. "So
I'm prepared."
To get an S.C. concealed weapons permit
Requirements for acquiring a concealed weapons permit in South Carolina:
--Age 21 or older
--Resident of South Carolina for at least 90 days
--Have three photographs taken
--Eye exam
--Fingerprinting ($5)
--South Carolina identification card or driver's license
--Eight-hour concealed weapons course, which includes instruction on handgun
storage, use and safety and information about state gun laws
--County, state and federal background checks
--$50 application fee
Handgun purchase requirements in S.C.
Like any other person walking into a gun shop, Beth Ferguson was subject to
a federal firearms purchase law.
Law-abiding citizens will find a gun fairly easy to buy. There is no waiting
period in South Carolina, and you can generally be in and out of a shop with
your new gun in less than an hour.
Show proof that you are age 21 or older and have lived in South Carolina for
at least 90 days. A driver's license will do. The gun shop calls for a
federal background check and has a response in about 20 minutes.
Not everyone can buy a gun. Felons, fugitives, drug users, illegal aliens,
the mentally ill and people who have been convicted of domestic violence are
among those restricted from owning firearms in the United States. Even if a
potential buyer is not prohibited for one of those reasons, the gun dealer
can refuse the sale for any reason.
--Age 21 or older
--Resident of South Carolina for at least 90 days
--South Carolina identification card or driver's license
--Federal background check (generally takes about 20 minutes)
--Note: There is no waiting period for a gun purchase in South Carolina.
Who can't buy a gun
--People who have pending charges for or have been convicted of a felony
punishable by more than one year in prison or a misdemeanor punishable by
more than two years in prison
--Fugitives
--Users of illegal drugs and those who have been convicted of
controlled-substance crimes within the past year
--Any person who, in a court proceeding, has been involuntarily committed to
a mental institution or has been deemed mentally defective or incompetent
--Illegal aliens
--Someone who has been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces
--A person who has renounced United States citizenship
--Anyone who is the subject of a restraining order
--People convicted of criminal domestic violence
Places a gun can't go in the Palmetto State
Where you can't take a gun in South Carolina:
--Law enforcement building
--Detention facility
--Courthouse
--Polling place on election day
--Government building
--School
--School athletic event
--Day care or preschool
--Religious sanctuary
--Medical facility
--Publicly-owned building
--Someone's home without their permission
--A building with signs posted that state "No Concealable Weapons Allowed"
--An establishment, including restaurants, where alcohol is served for
consumption on premises
