At 73, Haymond considers himself a gun enthusiast and collector. He was among the first people to arrive Sunday morning at the Suncoast Gun Show, billed as one of the largest in the state.
Haymond came to the two- day show at the Florida State Fairgrounds to peruse new and antique firearms, hunting rifles and gun accessories.
``All of the guns are available,'' Haymond said.
Haymond said his interest in guns is no different than that of people who collect coins or go to car shows.
Haymond knows his hobby can be used for deadly force, which he isn't afraid to use. ``If some young punk who's 20 years old wants to take my money, I can't fight him,'' Haymond said. ``But I can shoot him.''
Meet Force With Force
Now, under Florida state law, Haymond may legally have that right.
The state Legislature passed a bill in April that allows people who feel threatened in public places to ``meet force with force'' to protect and defend themselves without fear of prosecution.
``I'm sorry, people, but if I'm attacked, I shouldn't have a duty to retreat,'' the bill's sponsor, Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said in April. ``That's a good way to get shot in the back.''
Baxley's bill said that a person has ``the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so, to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another.''
When Gov. Jeb Bush signed the bill into law, he called it ``common sense.''
Paul Berry, a handgun and rifle owner from Bradenton, said the deadly force bill levels the playing field.
``It's taking away power from the criminals and giving people an equal amount of force,'' Berry said as he entered Sunday's gun show.
But the bill's opponents believe that giving more people the power to fire shots encourages more violence instead of promoting safety.
``You have the state telling them it's OK to shoot people and ask questions later,'' said Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a national organization that promotes gun-control regulations.
The deadly force law just creates more ways to put guns on the street, Howard said. It also takes the focus off efforts to better regulate the sale of guns through waiting periods and background checks.
Gun Show Exemption
While Florida statutes do not require mandatory waiting periods or background checks for gun ownership, each county is given the option to adopt a waiting period of no more than three days. Hillsborough County ordinances require both a criminal record check and a three-day waiting period.
However, in what opponents call the ``gun show loophole,'' Florida laws also say that the waiting period does not apply to gun shows or to collectors exhibits.
A Tampa Tribune reporter was asked to leave both the Suncoast Gun Show and the Florida State Fairgrounds on Sunday and could not confirm whether any background checks or waiting periods were being used.
Charles Jay, who attended Sunday's show with his wife, Maureen, said preventing journalists from entering the show gives sportsmen and gun owners a bad reputation.
``It makes us look like we're fanatics or extremists or against the country,'' Jay said.