I Guess Adult Supervision Just Ain't What It Used To Be...

[WillyT]

Boy, 8, killed in Mass. gun show accident

<snip>

WESTFIELD, Mass. – An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.

The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said.

The boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and "was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury," a police statement said.

Christopher died at Baystate Medical Center.

Although police called it a "self-inflicted accidental shooting," police and the Hampden district attorney's office were investigating, officials said.

"We are going to review all the circumstance regarding what happened, who was involved, what authorities they may or may not have had, who was supervising," District Attorney William Bennett said Monday.

It is legal for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said.

Those conditions were met in this case, he said. He declined to release the supervisor's name.

The club said on its Web site that the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training, is "all legal and fun." People are allowed to fire weapons at vehicles, pumpkins and other targets, it said.

<snip>

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_on_re_us/boy_shoots_himself

:wtf:

:banghead:

:puke:

[Jackpine Radical]

1. No matter how you cook it, this is a terrible tragedy.

I don't think a little kid (or anybody else, for that matter) should be shooting off an Uzi, but I will say that I was shooting a gun under my father's supervision before I started school. I think most other kids in my part of the backwoods got that kind of early gun training too.

[barbtries]

2. good gawd

i wonder if this will cause his parents to rethink their position on guns. poor baby.

it just seems like common sense that you do not, under any circumstances, put a loaded uzi into the hands of an 8-year-old!

[Iggo]

3. Yep. Sounds like fun to me.

Next...

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Wow - that's very sad.

Even with all safety mechanisms and protocols in place, accidents do happen. I'm glad for the sake of the gun club that they appear to have done everything possible to limit such accidents.

But, as is the way with life, there is nothing that kids can do that is perfectly 100% safe, whether it be playing sports, riding their bikes, or sitting in their backyard. I'm sure this incident will bring out the liberal lie that our children can be protected 100%. But, seriously, it's still more dangerous to put your kid in a car and drive somewhere than take them out shooting.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. If the club had done everything it could to prevent such accidents

it would not have allowed a fucking 8 year old to handle a fucking full-auto Uzi.

Fuck you and your fucking apologetics.

[plaintiff]

15. It certainly appears that they leave the biggest part of discretion to the parents.

If you want to lay some fucking blame I fucking suggest you fucking look at the fucking daddy.

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. Their facility, their rules, their responsibility.

Unless daddy signed a release, he could now sue them for everything they got.

[plaintiff]

21. Unless that place is run by complete morons, daddy most certainly signed a release.

You can't even put your kid in a go-cart without doing that in today's ambulance-chasing sue-everyone-in-sight mentality.
:shrug:

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. Considering they put an Uzi in the hands of an 8 year old, I think it

is a given that the place is run by complete morons.

[plaintiff]

27. No doubt they cruised Maple street looking for a kid to drag back to the facility

and force him to shoot the Uzi. Yep, I get it.

[Bake]

36. "ambulance-chasing sue-everyone-in-sight mentality"

And yet your screen name is "plaintiff."

How odd.

Bake, Esq.

[plaintiff]

42. Maybe I should have chosen 'defendant'

:shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. How do you know that? Have you ever used an Uzi? Do you know the size of the child?

Do you know how many other children of that age and size have safely used Uzis?

I was using powerful guns at that age. We didn't have full autos, but I used some pretty good sized guns as a child. The Uzi, by the way, has very little recoil - much less recoil than guns I was using. Granted, I wasn't on auto, which brings in a certain level of cumulative recoil, but it's about the same as a .22.

How do you know, ipso facto, that an 8-year old is not qualified to handle an Uzi? Or is it just emotional response on your part, you speaking normatively based on what you would do or based on Hollywood Mafia movies of .45 machine guns wielded by James Cagney?

[RaleighNCDUer]

26. HE SHOT HIMSELF IN THE FUCKING HEAD! THAT, I THINK,

INDICATES HE WAS NOT QUALIFIED TO HANDLE THE WEAPON.

There is such a thing as cause and effect.

This didn't just 'happen' to the kid. It was done to the kid. Somebody put the weapon in his hands, and that person needs to take responsibility for it.

[Fumesucker]

29. I taught my child to shoot at about ten years of age..

With a single action 22 revolver. She now has a "Team Glock" sticker on the back of the truck she carries my grandkids around in.

Anyone that puts a loaded, fully automatic weapon in the hands of an eight year old that they do not even know is asking for trouble.

They're actually lucky the kid is the only one that got shot, he could have easily taken out several members of the crowd.

[Bake]

44. I fired a German Luger pistol when I was a kid, probably around 10.

Sucker knocked me down. My uncle (the General) warned me it would "kick a little bit." Thanks, Unc, yeah it kicked my ASS!!

Bake

[Winterblues]

32. I wouldn't call putting a loaded Uzi into the hands of an eight year old an accident.

Stupid beyond belief but accident ...no.

[arcadian]

5. The kid had it coming to him.

:sarcasm: <-If needed

[zanne]

6. One more gun victim among throusands. Sigh. nt

[StClone]

7. "All legal and fun."

I wish this kids parents had a fascination with rock collecting or birding.

[Iggo]

9. So do they.

[KG]

8. another sacrifice on the alter of 2A.

[benEzra]

14. Nope. All automatic weapons have been tightly controlled since 1934.

The weapon here (a NFA Title 2/Class III restricted Micro Uzi machinegun) is as tightly controlled as a 105mm howitzer or shoulder-fired rocket launcher, under the National Firearms Act of 1934.

It was a tragic accident, and I would people wouldn't try to score political cheap shots with it.

[plaintiff]

16. altar

...

[gollygee]

10. An Uzi?

I'm not anti-guns by any means, but they might have come up with something else for the 8-year-olds to do than fire off a submachine gun.

Poor kid. :(

[gatorboy]

11. No age limit to shoot machine guns the flyer says:

http://www.copfirearms.com/ShootingEventsMainPage.htm


I know it says no age restrictions, but... Literally???

[gollygee]

13. There may not be a legal age restriction

but maybe they should have instituted one for their event. And what parent would say, "Oh sure, kid, go ahead and shoot that thing!"????

[wvbygod]

17. dup n/t

[caraher]

18. Supervision or not, the kid physically was too small for that gun

They shouldn't have let him fire something fully automatic, because "supervision" can't help with the kick unless that supervisor is holding the gun for him. If they want to let small kids fire automatic weapons they should be mounted in some way that minimizes physical size and strength in the safety equation.

[benEzra]

20. Agreed.

There is a world of difference between a tripod-mounted M1919 and a Micro Uzi.

[appleannie1]

22. "all legal and fun." GAG

[undeterred]

25. People don't kill children, guns do.

[plaintiff]

28. Cars, too

This happens almost every day somewhere in the USA
http://www.topix.com/county/chippewa-wi/2008/09/15-month-old-child-killed-after-being-backed-over-by-vehicle

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. And this is relevant how?

Did someone pick up the child, then set them down behind the vehicle before then getting in the vehicle and backing over it?

Somebody DID put a lethal weapon in the hands of a child who was not prepared to handle it - that much is obvious because if the child WAS prepared to handle it he would not have shot himself. That makes that 'somebody' - whether it is the parent or the facility - immediately culpable. Also, the facility is culpable by specifically advertising 'no age limit' in its flyer.

There is NOTHING about this death that made it inevitable - it was ENTIRELY preventable by using just a modicum of common sense.

[plaintiff]

43. My response was 100% relevant to the post I replied to.

Read it again, you will see exactly how.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Supply Side Jesus]

31. Only if

Guns were as regulated as cars....*sigh*

[Kitty Herder]

51. No kidding. Eight-year-olds aren't allowed to drive cars.

Even with parental permission and adult supervision.

[Toucano]

33. Ridiculous, senseless tragedy brought to you by the culture of death.

Thanks, guys!

[Lucian]

34. What kind of idiot parent allows an eight-year-old to shoot an uzi???

Supervision or not, the kid was just too fucking young and small to shoot an uzi.

[Marrah_G]

41. Apparently the idiot is an ER chief of staff.......

If anyone should have fucking known better.....

Well, now he lost his son. He has to live with that.

[undeterred]

46. Well then he is even more of an idiot.

Because he has no doubt treated many accidents like this that needn't have happened.

[Winterblues]

35. I would suggest they review the certification process, especially

for the person that was supposedly maintaining control over the situation at the time. What exactly made that person certified? Maybe that they had fired such a weapon in the past, or knew the strength requirements for firing such a weapon or ????? I would also suggest that the person's certification be revoked for cause.

[Baldameer]

39. Obviously, it was the adults fault....

I was raised around guns as a kid. Hunting rifles and shotguns, no assault rifles or anything of that nature. My dad always enforced the rules and he never allowed me to shoot a gun that was beyond my ability to control. At 8 yrs old I was only allowed to shoot a single shot .22 and a 410 shotgun under close supervision. At 13 I was given a 20 gauge and given more trust. At 16 I was given a 12 gauge and a Marlin 3030.

Me and my father were not gun enthusiasts, we were hunting enthusiasts, and what game we shot, we brought home, cleaned and ate. I respect guns for their ability to put food on the table, to protect police officers on patrol. I don't respect people who condone assault weaponry being paraded around at a gun show and then carelessly given to an 8yr old.

What happened was a tragedy but more importantly is these adults are demonstrative of those who see guns more as a hobby and toy rather than a killing tool that demands to be respected and handled only by experts.

My dad was extremely cautious with me as a child when it came to guns, and for good reason. My uncle, who is an avid gun nut went deer hunting with my dad and my uncle's gun discharged into the floorboard of my dad's new truck. My dad always taught me about unloading a weapon before entering a vehicle, house etc. and my dad said to me later "Now you know why I always asked you to unload your gun prior to going inside and always treat it as if it is a loaded weapon regardless, because if you forget that one time, somebody or something will pay the price."

[RaleighNCDUer]

40. Well put.

A weapon is merely a tool. But not all tools are equal. I'd no more give a kid an Uzi than I would a chainsaw.

EDIT:
And Welcome to DU!

[ihavenobias]

37. Terrible n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. No doubt the parents were teaching the kid how to "protect" himself from the bogeymen.

An 8 year old?? A gun of any kind?

These people have the IQ's of mentally challenged turnips.

[dkofos]

47. Could be the youngest recipient of the Darwin award ever.

[undeterred]

52. Yes, and at least he died doing something he loved.

I had to top the stupidity of YOUR post.

[RamboLiberal]

48. Check out the profession of the father

The boy's father, Charles Bizilj, attended the event with his
son. The father is the medical director of emergency medicine at
Johnson Memorial Hospital, in Stafford Springs, CT

http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/33336444.html

Not exactly I bet what most of us pictured. Sad. I'm a gun-owner but IMHO the Sponsor of this show, the gun club, the instructor and the father showed poor judgement.

I have nothing against kids learning about guns, shooting air rifles and .22 under adult supervision, but a full auto is too much for a kid.

Heck, I remember almost smacking my forehead with the recoil of a 38 police revolver my grandfather let me try when I was around 10. No danger I would've shot myself but I sure could've had a nice lump from that DA revolver. (BTW that was back in the 60's when almost no one used 2 hands to shoot a handgun).

[TexasObserver]

49. This is a case of criminal negligence by the parent and the gun owner.

I suspect both will be charged.

The weapon is fully auto. Even a grown man can lose control of it, especially if he doesn't understand the physics before pulling the trigger.

This was obscene negligence.

[Kitty Herder]

50. That's horrible.

It makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. Who the hell thought it was a bright idea to hand an eight-year-old an Uzi? A child that age can't handle a weapon like that, no matter how well supervised they are. I know nothing about guns, but I imagine that an Uzi is heavy and has quite a kick. In my opinion, an eight year old shouldn't be allowed to shoot anything more than a b-b gun, and even that's questionable.

What a tragedy.

[rucky]

53. There's a minimum driving age, drinking age, voting age...

just sayin'

[WillyT]

54. Kick !!!

:kick: