SAD News-Boy killed with NFA weapon-in Mass.

[Hk91-762mm]

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

Police Lt. Lawrence Valliere says 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 say the force of the weapon made it "travel up and back" to the boy's head.

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

Snd. worst thing about this is the main stream anti's will plaster the word UZI all over this story In an attempt to associate UZI with =death..
Condolences to the family.

 

[rallyhound]

It appears that the adult supervision was not quite up to par now, was it?.

Who thought an 8 year could hold on to a FA anything?

 

[MEH]

That's terrible...

 

[General Geoff]

Very sad.

I'm going to assume this was a Micro-Uzi without a shoulder stock. There's a reason that people affix shoulder stocks to machine pistols before they run a mag through them in full auto.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Where was the RSO or responsible party while this boy was holding and firing a FA weapon?

 

[Spot77]

I have an 8 year old son that shoots very well and is very safe with firearms.

In fact, he's a damn good shot with an HK USP9. But it's amazing what a piece of hot brass down the shirt will do to an 8 year old's concentration.

Fortunately, this happened on the last shot and he dropped the gun onto the bench with the muzzle still pointed downrange as he's been taught that the gun ALWAYS stays pointed downrange.


Very sad about the little boy; the family must be a wreck.

 

[22lr]

Sad to see anyone die, but who was letting a 8 year old shoot a full auto UZI without helping them hold it? I think its great to get young shooters involved but you have to play it safe.

 

[Cannonball888]

I wouldn't hesitate to let an 8 year-old shoot a SA rifle or pistol but not FA. They're not physically capable of good control.

It was a bad and unfortunate decision.

 

[rbernie]

This is horrible. What was supposed to have been fun turned very tragic, and frankly is likely going to scar everyone involved for a very long time. I do not think that I could see my 7yr old son with a gun shot wound to the head without some serious and long-lasting psych issues.

Letting the kid shoot a FA UZI may or may not have been a good idea - everyone's kid is different and everyone's ideas of what's appropriate are different. I know that it's easy to get angry at the adults, and some of that may be deserved. But venting that anger here does nobody any good, and just makes a potentially useful thread go south.

To the family involved - my sympathies. To the RO - I hope you can find some marginal good in all of this and never let it happen again.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Letting the kid shoot a FA UZI may or may not have been a good idea

I disagree. Even withOUT the benefit of hindsight, it was a 100% bad - VERY BAD - idea, IMO. I don't care how mature or how strong or how gun-experienced the kid was. That is stupid, stupid, stupid at EIGHT years of age. 11 or 12 might be a totally different story.

 

[Gbro]

This is a terrible tragedy, I feel heart sick for the family.
All gun owners are affected by these kinds of tragedy's.
Any time someone tries a firearm for the 1st time it should be done with 1 round in the firearm. There are way to many y-tube videos of what happens when someone shoots a gun and isn't experienced. We see simi-autos coming back and hitting the shooter, and others that loose the gun from their grasp.
Even a double action revolver(large magnum) can be doubled from the unexpected recoil, so that gun should be loaded with one round also until the shooter knows what to expect. and at that point may determine that they just are not ready for a gun that size.
As for full auto, a reasonable thing to do with someone without experience would be a magazine with 3 rounds then after evaluating, slowly bring the round count up.
Let use learn from this, There should never be another tragedy like this if we do our part and promote safe ways to start out a young/new shooter.
Again my sincere condolences to the family, and those close to the tragedy.

 

[wep45]

Letting the kid shoot a FA UZI may or may not have been a good idea

how could this be a good idea???????? explain that to everyone.

we all cant do what we wish just cause it feels good. common sense needs to be factored in

 

[Hoppy590]

going to assume this was a Micro-Uzi

it was a micro Uzi. i wasn't there but a few guys from NEShooters were

 

[Seenterman]

Tragic

My condolences to the family and anyone who may have witnessed this. This is the worst type of tragity, but that does not mean not to talk about it because it is to painful.

I cannot blame the guardian of the boy, but really who was running the machine gun shoot? I know the kid didn't walk up and pick up an UZI with a full clip and start plinking by himself. Someone had to give control of the firearm to this kid and THEY should have made damn sure he was safe with it. Shouldn't there be an age limit or can I bring my toddler to shoot full autos?

Am I the only one who only got to load 1 round at a time when learning pistols? And then it was 3 rounds at a time, and after I proved I could control the recoil / muzzle then I was allowed full clips. AND I WAS 14!

These machine gun shoots need to be protected and insulated from ANY type of accident / criminal activity because these are the LAST places 90% of people can go to shoot a full auto, dont let these be banned due to stupid tragic mistakes made by US THE GUNOWNERS, because then we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.

Hope the family gets past this as best as possible.

 

[bamawrx]

Very sad

When introducing any first time shooter of a full auto I put only 2 rounds in. And that only after they are ok with semi. The micro is not an easy gun to control, and anyone having trouble would naturally grip as hard as they could keeping the tripper pressed. Its definitely not the kids fault. This just makes me sick.

My 8 year old was shooting full auto no problem, but he didn't shoot the micro. He shot the MP5 a lot, but it is much easier to handle and he demonstrated full ability. I had him shooting from prone or a quick knee, which helps to keep control.

 

[Walkalong]

It appears that the adult supervision was not quite up to par now, was it?.
Who thought an 8 year could hold on to a FA anything?

Yep. What a MORON!

It is very sad, and, as usual, it's not the idiot who gets killed, but an innocent person, this time a young boy.

Simply pitiful.

 

[highorder]

I just got this in an email, and I'm sure the others are saying the same thing:

This is why these types of weapons do not belong in civilian society….even under “supervision”. This is nuts.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27399337/

Thank You,

How does one reply to statements like this one?

 

[kludge]

Am I the only one who only got to load 1 round at a time when learning pistols? And then it was 3 rounds at a time,

Heck that's exactly how we teach ADULTS at our club.

What a tragedy.

 

[kludge]

How does one reply to statements like this one?

It still wasn't the gun's fault.

 

[hso]

Tragic. My heart goes out to the family.

We may never know the detailed circumstances of the accident, but we do know that the child failed to release the trigger in time to keep the muzzle from rising to the point it was pointing at his head.

Whenever I have put a FA into someone's hands I follow a similar procedure to bamawrx's. 2 in the mag initially so they can get the feel of the controls and SA recoil followed by a mag with 3 rounds so they can practice trigger/burst control. If they have the feel for the gun, then, and only then, is the magazine loaded beyond 3 rounds and they only shoot burst for the first mag. After that I stand right at their shoulder until they've shot 3 mags under full control (one mag is a long burst just to be sure they can control that as well as short bursts).

When the girl was killed on the mini gun set at Knob Creek everyone was stricken. The mood in the campground that evening was as if the child of a close friend had been killed. Muzzle rise as she clamped down on the trigger was involved in that incident (as well as improper anchoring).

 

[highorder]

Quote:
How does one reply to statements like this one?

It still wasn't the gun's fault.

[she will say:]

But if people didn't have access to micro-uzis, this incident would not have happened.

 

[benEzra]

This is why these types of weapons do not belong in civilian society….even under “supervision”. This is nuts.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27399337/

Thank You,

How does one reply to statements like this one?

Point out that it's already as tightly regulated under Federal law as 105mm howitzers and shoulder-fired missiles is all you can do. But it's usually a pretty effective response; a lot of people think machineguns are sold without a background check for $200 at your local gun shop.

 

[wep45]

I cannot blame the guardian of the boy

the kid didnt get there by itself, nor did it bring the gun lets get real. the " guardian" was suppose to do just that and failed miserably

 

[highorder]

Point out that it's already as tightly regulated under Federal law as 105mm howitzers and shoulder-fired missiles is all you can do. But it's usually a pretty effective response; a lot of people think machineguns are sold without a background check for $200 at your local gun shop.

She knows better; this discussion will not be that easy.

How do you take emotion out of this, and suggest that NFA weapons should continue to be available to civilians?

 

[X-Rap]

Its trully a tragedy but as with others I can't see letting a kid shoot FA especially without some support of a stock.
I view like this, I might let a 8 yr old drive a golf cart or something like that with me in the other seat but I wouldn't turn over a race car and let them take a lap on their own. Physical as well as mental maturity are just not at that level with any 8yr old.
My condolences to the family, God bless.