ODESSA, Fla. – The swimming pool in the backyard of Louis Minardi's home near Tampa may be distinctive to Florida: The custom-built pool is shaped like a six-shooter revolver, in a state made famous – sometimes infamous – by guns, gun politics and gun culture.
“Neighbors that have bought houses around here have all come by,” Minardi said. “They’re all, ‘Is this guy a whack job?’”
The story behind the revolver-shaped pool goes back roughly 40 years to an idea proposed by Minardi’s high school friend, Albert Jones III of Tampa, a contractor who said he was bored building more traditionally shaped pools.
Minardi was reluctant at first, but the idea resonated with him, given his lifelong relationship with guns. Now 67, Minardi said he grew up hunting with friends and remembers receiving his first firearm, a double-barrel shotgun, when he was in middle school but already mindful of gun safety.
“I was the shortest, littlest guy growing up, and bought a damn 12-gauge,” Minardi said.
“The times were different then,” he said. “You're 12, and your mother drops you off a box of shells and a shotgun. But they trust it. They knew we knew what we were doing.”
Minardi said he opened a gunsmithing business with his brother after attending classes in 1976.
In the 1980s, Minardi and his wife, Raye, decided they wanted a pool. They lived on a lake that contained snakes and alligators, and Raye Minardi would have to watch over their children swimming from the dock with a shotgun, she said.
The family wanted a pool at least 40 feet long to allow for laps. After Louis Minardi contacted Jones, who owned A.H. Jones Pools Inc., the idea was born for the gun pool – all 55 feet of it.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy,” Jones said, according to Louis Minardi. Knowing Minardi’s background as a gunsmith, Jones showed up with plans modeled after a Ruger Blackhawk, a 1950s-era, Western-style revolver characterized by its long barrel and known for its durability and accuracy.
“You swim your lap down the barrel,” Louis Minardi said Jones told him. “It gets deeper on that end. You can flip over from it, and then you can swim back.”
Jones pleaded with him to let him build the gun pool, Louis Minardi said. He said he was tired of building kidney-shaped pools, a staple of Florida’s backyards. Minardi agreed – provided he stayed within his project’s budget.
Jones, who died in 2010, color-coordinated the perimeter pool tiles to accurately reflect the revolver’s brown handle and silver body. He detailed tiles on the bottom of the pool to distinguish the gun’s individual components, like the trigger and ammunition chamber. And he installed a jacuzzi in the hammer.
The pool has been resurfaced over the years, but the shape remains.
Louis Minardi said the pool is popular among family and friends, who have used it to teach their children how to swim.
Louis Minardi stopped gunsmithing in the late ‘80s, due to increasing insurance rates for gun warranties. He became more involved with the family-owned taxi service and has run that business ever since.
Still, gun education remains important to him. He said he’s taken his children and grandchildren hunting since they were very young. He said he did not allow them to use a gun unless they were closely supervised and had proper training.
Gun education is at the center of Louis Minardi’s views on gun regulation. He said people should be allowed to own guns and carry guns in public. Florida lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would eliminate requirements for concealed carry permits, which currently include mandatory classroom training and proof of proficiency at a gun range. He also said having a gun doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t know how to properly use it.
“If you're qualified, mentally able to have one and protect yourself, I think you ought to have one if you want one, whether you keep it at home or you carry it with you,” Louis Minardi said. “But it's like everything. It's educating. It's educating the people about the guns, how they work.”
“Nowadays, most people don’t know anything about them,” he said.
Reflecting on his pool, he wasn’t aware that people on social media had noticed the unusual shape on overhead map imagery. And he said in all his years since being a gunsmith with a revolver-shaped pool, he never considered another curious coincidence: His family lives on Gunn Highway.
“I don’t know. I never thought about Gunn Highway,“ Louis Minardi said. “It just happens to be the road we live on.”
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BARTON, ROBERT
DOB: 04/25/1993
Charge(s): POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE (METHAMPHETAMINE)
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BLATCH, LATARJA
DOB: 10/15/2000
Charge(s): POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE (MOLLIE)
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DARMSTADT, RICHARD
DOB: 05/31/1967
Charge(s): FLEE/ELUDE POLICE: FAIL TO OBEY ORDER TO STOP; DAMAGE PROP-CRIM MISCH: 1000 DOLS OR MORE; WEAPON OFFENSE: MISSILE INTO DWELLING VEH BUILDING OR AIRCRAFT
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DE LA CRUZ GONZALEZ, BRYAN
DOB: 07/24/1994
Charge(s): POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBCTANCE (MOLLIE); (VOP) LARC: GRAND THEFT; FRAUD-ILL USE OF CREDIT CARDS
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DREYFUSS, JEFFREY ALLEN
DOB: 01/29/1979
Charge(s): (IN HOUSE) (MARION COUNTY) (VOP) POSS OF METHAMPHETAMINE
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ELLIS, ALLISON NICOLE
DOB: 02/13/1987
Charge(s): (GILCHRIST COUNTY) CIVIL CASE; UNPAID SUPPORT
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GREEN, LASONYA MARIE
DOB: 06/16/1981
Charge(s): (VOP) LARCENY: POSSESS ANTI-SHOPLIFTING DEVICE; (VOP) LARCENY: PETIT THEFT MERCHANT FARM TRANSIT 2+ PRIOR CONVICTIONS
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KIMBRIEL, DARLENE JOELL
DOB: 02/24/1969
Charge(s): (MARION COUNTY) FRAUD
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LEE, JAMES EVERETT
DOB: 10/26/1970
Charge(s): FAIL TO REG AFT ESTABLISH PERM/TEMP RESIDENCE
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MARTIN, RICARDO A.
DOB: 03/31/1986
Charge(s): PETIT THEFT; POSSESS OF COCAINE; TRESPASSING AFTER WARNING
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MOORE, LOUNETTA ELIZABETH
DOB: 03/09/1992
Charge(s): ESCAPE; RESIST OFFICER WO VIOLENCE; DAMAGE PROP-CRIM MISCH: 200 DOLS AND UNDER; (WARRANT) LARC: PETIT THEFT MERCH FARM TRANSIT 2+ PRIOR CONVIC
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MORIN, TIMOTHY
DOB: 11/02/2001
Charge(s): DUI-UNLAW BLD ALCH: DUI INFLUENCE OF ALCHOL OR DRUGS; MARIJUANA-POSSESS: NOT MORE THAN 20 GRAMS
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PRICE, MIRANDA
DOB: 03/27/1997
Charge(s): BATTERY: COMMIT DOMESTIC BATTERY BY STRANGULATION
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RUSSELL, KEVIN SHANE
DOB: 03/31/1981
Charge(s): OPIUM OR DERIV-POSSESS: WIT SELL ETC 1000 FT SPECIFIED AREA SCH I II
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SANTA MARIA, SIERRA DAWN
DOB: 05/27/1987
Charge(s): DRUGS-POSSESS: CNTRL SUB WO PRESCRIPTION X2; LARC: PETIT THEFT MERCH FARM TRANSIT $100 LT $750; DRUGS EQUIP-POSSESS AND OR USE; MARIJUANA-POSSESS: LESS THAN 20 GRAMS
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SHEFFIELD, STACIE
DOB: 10/22/1984
Charge(s): POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE (METHAMPHETAMINE)
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SILCOX, ZACHARY
DOB: 05/08/2001
Charge(s): CARRYING CONCEALED WEAPON: UNLICENSED FIREARM
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SMITH, RITA ELAINE
DOB: 11/10/1981
Charge(s): LARC: GRAND THEFT 750 LESS THAN 5K DOLS; (VOP) BATTERY: TOUCH OR STRIKE
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WALTERS, DANIEL ROY
DOB: 11/26/1980
Charge(s): PETIT THEFT (RETAIL); RESISTING MERCHANT DETAINMENT; (WARRANT) LARC: OTHER THEFT
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Common abbreviations used:
DOC – Department of Corrections
DUBAL – driving with an unlawful blood alcohol level
DWLSR – driving while license suspended or revoked
FTA – failure to appear
FVOP – felony violation of probation
LEO – law enforcement officer
LSOA – leaving the scene of an accident
MTV – moving traffic violation
MVOP – misdemeanor violation of probation
OOC or O/C – out of county
PTR – pretrial release condition violation
R/O or RO – resist officer
RWOV – resist without violence
VOP – violation of probation
W/O or WO – without
YOA – years of age