Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Your Turn

A 9 year old girl was taken to a gun range and ended up killing her instructor when he let her go full automatic with an Uzi. How old is the right age to go to a gun range?

66 comments:

Anothergrayhare said...

How stupid are people?

Meanie Rhysie said...

Obviously not 9...

sandybrook said...

I would never encourage this.

RustyJ said...

@Anothergrayhare, the answer to that is infinite.

Honey Bunny said...

No 9-year-old should not be given a gun, let alone an Uzi! That child will be scared for life. Just sad.

All Lace no Leather said...

This story is tragic. They've shown video clips this morning on the news of the seconds leading up to the shooting.

Karen said...

Maybe 12, but it depends on the maturity level of the kid and how well they listen to instructions (I'd take my 13-year old cousin over my 29-year old brother).

In any case, there's no reason to practice with an Uzi, especially for a child who obviously wasn't strong enough to control it.

melissa said...

I started shooting lessons at 8. (my father was military)

But NOT with an automatic.

MISCH said...

These people scare the crap out of me, brainless

Pip said...

Why in the world would 9 year old need to learn how to use an Uzi? Who would sign their kid up for that? People are idiots.

Count Jerkula said...

Shitty instructor, feel no sympathy for him. I do feel bad for the girl though.

The parents are assholes.

FSP said...

I know plenty of people that learned to use a gun at a young age, as well as taught there own children at around the same age. The fact these parents gave the kid a freaking Uzi is the problem. Stoopid parents.

Cheryl said...

It's not the age of the child that is the problem. The instructor was obviously irresponsible. I've lived many places (TX, AZ, WV) where children take gun lessons from certified instructors with legitimate safety practices. I've never heard of kids taking uzi lessons, so I'm guessing this wasn't an official or reputable class.

Unknown said...

Unfortunately, this was the first news article I saw this morning after I woke up. I can't believe it.

The 9-yr old and her parents were on vacation going through Arizona. They saw the gun-range, thought it would be fun. Evidently, the range is very legal and very secure.

The girl had just shot one round as the UZI can be set to one shot only or full automatic. Now, it's not known whether the instructor purposely set it to full automatic or if it was an accident.

He told her to go "all out" or something like that and she lost her grip and it went full automatic straight at the instructors head.

First. My heart breaks for this man's family. According to locals, he was a good guy w/ a family and good instructor.

Second. My heart breaks for the family who made the foolish decision of thinking it would be cute getting their daughter shooting an UZI on film and uploading it to the internet (i'm assuming..why else would you stop at an automatic gun range and film your daughter shooting a gun...oops i mean UZI).

This little girl's life is FOREVER CHANGED. She just blew off a man's head by accident. I am so very sorry for the mental anguish that girl will go through. I can only hope her parents make better decisions for her and get her someone trustworthy and respected specialist to talk w/ her.

Jessi said...

Idiot parents is an understatement. A freaking Uzi? Yes because every American needs to learn how to use this to get by in our day to day life. This is where people get pissed off about gun use!!!

Angela said...

I got my first shotgun at 8, & I have no problem with responsible teaching practices, but a freaking UZI?

Claudea said...

Thank you for stating the obvious and the laugh! :))))

Seven of Eleven said...

That poor little girl. Parents are idiots, why didn't they just give her the keys to the car and tell her to put the pedal to the metal? She'll be traumatized for life knowing she killed someone, even if it was an accident.

Rosso said...

Never. So pleased I live in a country with strict gun laws. Crime & violence still exist of course, in other ways, but having no guns around lessens my fear a hell of a lot!

Gayeld said...

427.

AndrewBW said...

Of course if the instructor had had a gun he could have defended himself.

Unknown said...

Upfront - I apologize to my American "cousins

BUT

Americans and their love of guns

This was bound to happen. As if all the previous tragedies weren't enough, now will the NRA get a brain finally and reconsider the need to misconstrue the 2nd amendment for the benefit of ongoing profits and maybe - Just Maybe - place more value on human life?

Gayeld said...

@meme. Ha ha ha ha. The NRA see reason. That's a funny one.

FrenchGirl said...

Never! Her adult instructor or her parents were enough idiot to think that a 9 years old kid was enough "adult" to use gun or learn to use Uzi

SusanB said...

I handled my first gun when I was 55 - went to the range with Mr. B. My first 3 shots went straight through the ceiling (it was a 38). If I couldn't handle a 38 the first time as an adult, how the hell can you expect a 9 year old to handle an Uzi? We go to the range 3-4 times a year and there's no way I'd try an Uzi - I KNOW I can't handle it.

This isn't a 2nd amendment issue - it's a stupidity issue. I'll bet the parents are equally irresponsible in other ways.

Tina Mallette said...

The first problem is that no one needs an Uzi unless you are in the military. You probably don't even need those guns for law enforcement. Uzis should be made and sold only to the military.

If you can't hunt animals without an automatic weapon, that ain't a sport.

Tina Mallette said...

Just like rocket launchers really are not for personal use.

Tina Mallette said...

Surely the instructor could have said sorry but that really is not an appropriate weapon for a nine year old? There are grown men who probably can't handle that weapon on first try.

Groggy said...

I am a gun owner and strong 2nd amendment supporter but this is just bat-sh*t crazy. I think if parents want their kids to grow up comfortable around firearms and learn to handle them responsibly, you start them out at maybe age 13 with a air gun or pellet gun and go from there. A 9 year old and Uzi? It doesn't take Nostradamus to predict that nothing good can result from that.

8====D KermitGossnellKnobjob said...

An Uzi? Why not a bazooka, or a stinger, or the nuclear Big Red Button?

A gun can be OK to handle at 9, or a few years older, but some kind of machine gun is too much even for a random 18er.

Unknown said...

Seriously I'm not sure what her parents or the instructor was thinking handing her an UZI

There should for sure be an age limit on weapons like that - at least 18

I feel badly for her - she is going to be scarred for life

Unknown said...

Please Enty: do NOT unleash the gun nuts.

Here in Washington state we are facing two gun measures on the ballot this November. I will be in a secure location for all of November while the melee commences. Our airwaves have seen the first strike of ads with hours more to follow.

Pray. Any line on cheap housing in the south Pacific? Maybe an island with no tv?

SugarTitz said...

Well I shot my first uzi at 7 but I was in front of someone. I went to a gun range at 10 but by then I wasn't a rookie. .

Zach said...

You can never be too young.

Sherry said...

nora nader ..Bravo darling. So eloquently said.

Kara said...

I feel bad for the girl.

My family has guns. We've always had guns. I have a gun. Well, a rifle (.306).

Here in Oregon, we start young. Usually, with little .22's or something like that. The UZI is bewildering to me.

Kat has left the building said...

I've never even seen a gun in real life, but I get that some families are into it for fun. However, I don't consider automatic weapons the same as a regular gun. This place was licensed and if its true the instructor told her to go fully auto, he should have been ready to spot her.

Count Jerkula said...

Since her parents are all about respecting firepower early on, will they be getting her some BBC for her 10th birthday?

If she's gonna learn, she should learn young, with something that has some kick to it. Getting her a white guy would be like teaching her on a snubnose .38. Pfft. Not for our lil princess.

auntliddy said...

Father was ww2vet and pow during same. We never went anywhere near guns ever. I didnt even know u cld own one, lol. A f*cking uzi! Anyone who okayed this and condoned is guilty. Whats the rush?! Shes 9! Ya got a real brain drain going on there.

Cherry Pie said...

Guns don't kill people, nine year old girls kill people. - the NRA

Unknown said...

An UZI on full automatic in the hands of a nine year old girl. What a great idea - not. She could have taken out a lot more people.

Not to mention, kids that young don't have any sense of mortality, or danger. Their brains and sense of morality is not fully developed. She could have just as easily pointed it at someone as a joke - and taken them out that way too.

I support the second amendment and private gun ownership, even public carry/conceal permits (I think it would definitely cut down on school massacres, for example, if teachers were armed) ... but NOBODY needs to own or fire a full-automatic assault rifle.

OKay said...

Well put, Cherry Pie.

Yoj said...

Please know that I mean no disrespect, but... I don't understand this mentality. Why, in 2014, in the developed world, would you want or need to hunt? Why would a family think visiting a gun range would be "fun"? Why would anyone (not in law enforcement or the military) need to learn to shoot a gun? Why would you let a child or young adolescent (who cannot legally drink, smoke, drive or have sex) handle a gun?

Jessie said...

I saw something about this on Twitter and I thought it was a joke! This is so sad.

Jessie said...

Being outside of the US I obviously have a much different view regarding owning a gun. From what is presented to us, it sounds like people want to own guns to protect themselves from other humans. Which means that people on both "sides" are buying guns for the purpose of shooting another human being. And so many of you don't see the problem with that.

Pogue Mahone said...

Who in their right mind would let a child anywhere NEAR a gun?

Lioness70 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lioness70 said...

My 14 yo learned to shoot last year when he was in the Scouts.

We're gun owners. But I'm for fucking responsible ownership. An Uzi? I wouldn't touch that unless I was military!

MinPinGirl said...

Too bad Ted Nugent wasn't the instructor.

This story is a sad example of the ongoing stupidity about guns in America. That poor girl probably wanted to stop for an ice cream. I mean who does that? Idiot parents.

nevarmore said...

Why does a 9 year old need to know how to fire an Uzi?

skippy said...

@tina. re animals & sport, do you think animals have their choice of weaponry?
The parents & the instructor were idiots.
It must have been traumatic for the little girl , images she will never forget. She'll be in therapy for a very long time.
The parents probably recorded it to post online
/ Facebook.
A split second that changed the lives of so many people forever.
I feel so sad for the instructors family & friends.
I feel devastated for the young girl.
I also really dislike the parents, much anger.
Rant over, but I could go on.

Sherry said...

I know it's wrong MinPin but the Nugent remark made me chuckle. I would never wish anyone hurt by guns either.

Count Jerkula said...

@Skippy: Don't feel bad for the instructor. If he was good at his job, he would be alive.

Not A Ninny said...

Small-caliber bolt-action rifle: 6-8, depending on the maturity of the kid, if closely supervised.

Semi-auto rifles, pistols, revolvers and shotguns: 12-14, supervised, with limited ammo loaded.

Full-auto weapons: 16-never, depending on physical and emotional maturity.

Unknown said...

So... what if the next gun tragedy in the states was a 3, 4, 5, 6 yo who got a hold of the gun in the house and shot their....

Oh wait... that's already been done

You mean to suggest, that 1st world countries on this planet, that don't have laws stating -- all have a right to bear arms (incl. Dogs, cats, clowns, bears) -- that those countries (who don't have gun tragedies every day/week/month) -- somehow have it wrong?

Well Shit!! Glad I live in those countries! Don't have to worry about some pissed off pussy, hound dog mutt or backwater grizzly blowing my head off because of 6pm traffic road rage. Oh yeah, and at least we're alive

Unknown said...

As an Australian usually any discussion I enter into with Americans about guns serves as the proverbial red rag. So I won't venture into that territory. However.... an Uzi? WTF?
When we lived in the bush my dad had rifles to kill pests (rabbits, roos and foxes). He taught me to shoot as a kid, but with an air rifle, at targets. All firearms were kept locked up, separately to ammunition. Here, we seem to travel along pretty well with people NOT being shot and killed, having a dearth of school shootings and other fatal rampages. This is effing tragic. Good one mum and dad! (And sympathy to family of deceased), but shouldn't the instructor have shown more sense and not let her have access to an Uzi?

Erik said...

I don't have a problem with teaching a kid to shoot and handle a gun safely, but to allow a 9 year old to shoot a gun on full auto is the height of insanity. Those girl's parents should at the very least have their heads examined.

HudsonJoe said...

@susanb I would have to go do some research to confirm but at the muzzle a .38 and 9mm parabellum(what the Uzi is generally chambered for) have about same energy.

Everyone this range was advertized like a thrill ride. Think about it in those terms not as weapons training.

The video was recorded by the family and released by the sheriff.

@Bprofane I think you have the ages about right.

This was an unfortunate accident. One that the instructor has a large part in creating. SOP for that range when children fire. Instructor on the same side as the firearm; hand on the shooters shoulder so if necessary he can control the weapon. This instructor was on the shooters left and had his hand on her back. Most shoulder fired weapons when fired full auto will climb up and to the left! I hate to say it but the instructors action look in the aftermath almost suicidal.

This should have been a safe endeavour. It can be made safer by changes to the firing station.

This should not be turned into a discussion for or against gun control. It should be a discussion of appropriate range safety procedures.

SugarTitz said...

Ouch!!

SugarTitz said...

Except in Russia. . Backyard bbqs.. shooting down random 747s.

Unknown said...

I foam at the mouth whenever Ted Nugent's name is mentioned.

He's a horrible HORRIBLE person. Just visit his facebook page and see why.

He brags about killing animals. He loves to shoot any homeless cats that show up on his property, for instance.

Just - a pig of a human being.

And it has nothing to do with his gun ownership. He's a sadist.

Unknown said...

For some reason when I think of this family tootling along the desert road on vacation, then they see the shooting range and decide t go in ... it reminds me of a scene in this hilarious road movie, and I can't for the life of me remember the title, but it's about this mysterious millionaire who gathers several people in a hotel room and sends them on a madcap cross-country adventure to claim a treasure... .I think it was Jon Lovitz who was one of the people, he's on vacation with his wife and kids and doesn't tell them about the treasure, while at the same time trying to win it ... they're tootling along a desert road and his daughter sees a sign for the Barbie Museum and starts whining that she wants to go, so they finally relent and go ... except it's not Barbie DOLL it's KLAUS Barbie, it's run by neo-Nazis and the family is Jewish. I think he ends up accidentally stealing Hitler's car ... It was VERY funny.

But I digress...

Unknown said...

Found it!

It's called Rat Race

Count Jerkula said...

Meme: If you don't live in America, then please, don't worry about our gun laws. Surely whatever country you live in has its own problems you can fret over.

Unknown said...

Gotta say, Australia may not be perfect, but I am glad we don't have that many gun - related incidents. Such a tragedy.

Anonymous said...

children probably shouldn't shoot anything but rilfes below the age of 18. What I would like to see happen is a massive lawsuit that makes this regulation.

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