Who in their right mind would let an 8 year old fire an uzi!?!?

[PeterMan]

It blows me away how gun people continually defend their "right to bear arms" even when awful stuff like this happens...

Eight-year-old boy dead after accidentally shooting himself with Uzi

:disappointed:

 

[anatoly]

horrible story, who in their right mind would teach an 8 year old to shoot ?

also how did they get an UZI, arn't they illegal?

 

[jsu1995]

I'm all about owning firearms, but somebody that young should never be allowed to fire a gun of that magnitude. :disappointed:

 

[draggar]

That is horrible. My father in law is a member of the NRA and big on his right to own guns but he is also big on teaching responsibility. My wife and none of her siblings were allowed to play with guns, even make a gun out of their hand and pretend to shoot - guns were never toys with that.

Each child, when they turned 10-12 they got a gun for their birthday (usually a rifle - 22 gauge). If was locked if he wasn't supervising them with it. They had to learn all about gun saftey, how to take it apart, how to clean it, how to use it, and everything else before he even took them to the gun club to learn how to fire it.

It's not about teaching kids how to shoot, it's also teaching them the responsibility of owning a gun and the parents' responsibility to keep the kids safe.

 

[stewie]

very sad ,

 

[Raider]

It's not about teaching kids how to shoot, it's also teaching them the responsibility of owning a gun and the parents' responsibility to keep the kids safe.

Well said... I think you need to know your child is responsible in other ways before even teaching him/her the safety of handling a gun. When we think our son is ready, well teach him, Maybe start him off with a .22 and see how he does. I think it's pure stupidity to introduce assault guns like these to anyone that young of an age, even though their semi automatic.

Stories like these are what feed the anti-gun lobbies in Washington DC.

 

[PeterMan]

What I really don't understand is how these groups are allowed to have these types of weapons in the first place. I have hunted in my lifetime, I have owned a 12 gauge and I have taken hunters safety and I have written the appropriate tests here in Canada and have a firearms acquisition card... I understand how some folks feel about hunting... but clearly these types of weapons are so extreme and so unnecessary for anyone but law enforcement/military personnel...

Simply put the gun laws in the states are a joke...

 

[Raider]

What I really don't understand is how these groups are allowed to have these types of weapons in the first place. I have hunted in my lifetime, I have owned a 12 gauge and I have taken hunters safety and I have written the appropriate tests here in Canada and have a firearms acquisition card... I understand how some folks feel about hunting... but clearly these types of weapons are so extreme and so unnecessary for anyone but law enforcement/military personnel...

Simply put the gun laws in the states are a joke...

Keep in mind that assault weapons are Semi-Automatic... Fully automatics are illegal in every state. Now from reading this story, it sounds like the boy was trying to fire off as many rounds as he could in a given time... Firing off 9mm rounds in repetiton with a gun he didn't know how to handle, Not smart!.

You cant blame it on assault weapons, I heard of someone who took out his eye from the recoil of a rifle, I heard of a cop that shot himself in the butt with his pistol, Should we outlaw these to? Accidents happen.

 

[PeterMan]

Keep in mind that assault weapons are Semi-Automatic... Fully automatics are illegal in every state. Now from reading this story, it sounds like the boy was trying to fire off as many rounds as he could in a given time... Firing off 9mm rounds in repetiton with a gun he didn't know how to handle, Not smart!.

You cant blame it on assault weapons, I heard of someone who took out his eye from the recoil of a rifle, I heard of a cop that shot himself in the butt with his pistol, Should we outlaw these to? Accidents happen.

So I guess all of the "adults" around felt it was wise to let the kid try this gun... I guess it was his fault for not knowing how to properly handle an "assault weapon"...

:veryangry:

 

[draggar]

You cant blame it on assault weapons, I heard of someone who took out his eye from the recoil of a rifle, I heard of a cop that shot himself in the butt with his pistol, Should we outlaw these to? Accidents happen.

I've seen a video of a police officer shooting himself while talking to a class of elementary school students about gun safety. Many or most accidents are caused by people not being careful enough (but yes, pure accidents do happen).

I think it is on YouTube.

 

[Raider]

So I guess all of the "adults" around felt it was wise to let the kid try this gun... I guess it was his fault for not knowing how to properly handle an "assault weapon"...

:veryangry:

I doubt they felt it was "Wise" Try not to put your own words and emotions into this.... No, I put the blame on the instructor and the Gun club for allowing children of his age to handle these type of weapons. The gun clubs I used to go to here in California would not of allowed it.

I've seen a video of a police officer shooting himself while talking to a class of elementary school students about gun safety. Many or most accidents are caused by people not being careful enough (but yes, pure accidents do happen).

I think it is on YouTube.

Here's a video of a Girl shooting a .50 Caliber Desert Eagle.... A good example of too much gun and not holding it firmly, Watch how her left hand leaves her grip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxEUlh6rytI

 

[DomainsInc]

Keep in mind that assault weapons are Semi-Automatic... Fully automatics are illegal in every state. Now from reading this story, it sounds like the boy was trying to fire off as many rounds as he could in a given time... Firing off 9mm rounds in repetiton with a gun he didn't know how to handle, Not smart!.

You cant blame it on assault weapons, I heard of someone who took out his eye from the recoil of a rifle, I heard of a cop that shot himself in the butt with his pistol, Should we outlaw these to? Accidents happen.

Accidents do happen but I think the point elivate was trying to make is that semi automatics like uzi's have no real point being the hands of citizens. People don't use them for hunting and its very unpractical to use for home defence. Whats its use?

 

[cleverlyslick]

a 3yr old is physically capable of holding and shooting a firearm,but control is a different story.for a sub machine gun uzi's have ALOT of recoil and even an adult can have trouble controlling it. it's beyond me how you let a child shoot a weapon with such high recoil.i understand it's our right as american citizens to bear arms but responsibility have to come with it and that was an example of irresponsibility.

 

[Focus]

Keep in mind that assault weapons are Semi-Automatic... Fully automatics are illegal in every state. Now from reading this story, it sounds like the boy was trying to fire off as many rounds as he could in a given time... Firing off 9mm rounds in repetiton with a gun he didn't know how to handle, Not smart!.

You cant blame it on assault weapons, I heard of someone who took out his eye from the recoil of a rifle, I heard of a cop that shot himself in the butt with his pistol, Should we outlaw these to? Accidents happen.

No, full auto assault weapons are not "illegal" they require a Class 3 federal license or have to belong to a law enforcement agency. You can pay a federal tax and go through the FBI background check approval process and legally own a fully automatic machine gun in many states in the US, same goes for silencers. I personally own a fully legal & fully automatic rifle so trust me I know what I'm talking about. At shooting ranges they normally will have some full auto weapons like Uzi's and MP-5's you can fire legally without having to have any sort of special training or license. Due to the excessive muzzle flip and him being young and having weak wrists I can see where this accident could easily occur..it's very sad and unfortunate but it's not the guns fault...no matter what nobody blame the gun. There is no such thing as a "gun accident" only a fault operator to blame. Or parents in this case.

 

[Theo]

Nothing wrong with adults owning weapons. Handling guns should be age-restricted. Giving an uzi to an 8-year old to fire on targets "for fun" should be treated the same as giving alcohol to a minor: punishment of the adult that offered it.

 

[cleverlyslick]

No, full auto assault weapons are not "illegal" they require a Class 3 federal license or have to belong to a law enforcement agency. You can pay a federal tax and go through the FBI background check approval process and legally own a fully automatic machine gun in many states in the US, same goes for silencers. I personally own a fully legal & fully automatic rifle so trust me I know what I'm talking about. At shooting ranges they normally will have some full auto weapons like Uzi's and MP-5's you can fire legally without having to have any sort of special training or license. Due to the excessive muzzle flip and him being young and having weak wrists I can see where this accident could easily occur..it's very sad and unfortunate but it's not the guns fault...no matter what nobody blame the gun. There is no such thing as a "gun accident" only a fault operator to blame. Or parents in this case.

focus is right.guns don't kill people,people kill people.

 

[Focus]

It most likely was a mini-uzi if it flipped back around and hit him because the barrel is extremely short and the weapon is very small, a pretty rare gun in full auto actually..but there should have been a shoulder support on the weapon, hmmm..maybe it went under his arm accidently or something..I would find it hard to believe he was firing the full size uzi as they are much easier to control and have longer barrels...they do not have very bad recoil at all unless you are firing them in full auto mode and then they do have the tendency to rise upwards quite fast. This girl seems to do just fine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--yqy-wNANM

 

[Raider]

a 3yr old is physically capable of holding and shooting a firearm,but control is a different story.for a sub machine gun uzi's have ALOT of recoil and even an adult can have trouble controlling it.

On the issue of recoil, it really depends on the caliber, the weight of the barrel and how well the shooter is able to hold onto the weapon... The article does not say what caliber he was using, I'm assuming it was a 9mm Parabellum, since this is the most commonly used in Uzis ... Their also available in .22, 41 and 45 ACP, Standard handgun ammunition.

I shot all of these calibers out of handguns except for the .41 and never had a problem handling the weapon, and I only weigh 95 lbs and stand 5'2.

Would this have happened if the shooter had his elbows locked? Most likely not, it couldn't! We dont know all the details, but I have a pretty good guess what happened here.

No, full auto assault weapons are not "illegal" they require a Class 3 federal license or have to belong to a law enforcement agency. You can pay a federal tax and go through the FBI background check approval process and legally own a fully automatic machine gun in many states in the US, same goes for silencers. I personally own a fully legal & fully automatic rifle so trust me I know what I'm talking about.

I knew it was legal for Law enforcement but not for citizens, The laws must vary State to State on this issue. The bottom line is; the Gun this 8 year old was using was not a fully automatic.

 

[Theo]

I don't care if the uzi flipped, or if it were a mini-uzi with duct tape around the child's wrists. The focus here should be that it was an 8-year old, handling a weapon. At 8 years old I had a nice pair of plastic toy revolvers that'd go "bang" using little red capsules filled with tiny amounts of gun powder - that was it. I fail to understand what kind of parent allows an 8-year old to handle a loaded weapon.

 

[Raider]

they do not have very bad recoil at all unless you are firing them in full auto mode and then they do have the tendency to rise upwards quite fast.

True, And the more rounds that are going off, the more your elbows unlock.

I fail to understand what kind of parent allows an 8-year old to handle a loaded weapon.

I dont either, Perhaps they were OK with it since he was under adult supervision of a shooting instructor.