More on the child killed in gun range accident

[AJMD429]

Did anyone with DSL or high-speed internet see the dad get interviewed? I wondered how that went.

The link is in this story but we only have dial-up.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-bo ... 1835.story

[O.S.O.K.]

Very sad.

Of course, when an 8 year old boy is hit and killed by a person driving a car, it's not treated quite the same is it?

At least they didn't go off on any anti gun tirade like I've seen before- or interview "experts" from gun control inc....

Poor family though - must be devistated.

ETA - the interview of the father was basically a discussion about the boy and plans for a memorial park that the family owns, etc. nothing about the event itself.

[lever-4-life]

I have been following this story very closely, The news first said the accident took place at a gun show. The as the facts became clear it was in fact a machine gun shoot. The weapon that was involved was first called an uzi, after more reading and an interview of the range master It looks to be a mini-uzi that was involved.
I do have quite a bit of experience with class III guns, and letting an eight year old fire a mini-uzi (1,600 rpm as to the standard uzi's 600 rpm)
unimaginable. I have shot mini's as well as mac-10's and I will tell you that they lift like no other. Now if the father did not have any class three experience that is one thing, But the "supervisor" should have known better.

Anyway you look at it, it's a very tragic story

[Lastmohecken]

This is a sad story, and unforutnately, entirely preventable. I don't have a problem with letting a kid shoot most guns, if recoil is not a problem, but the range officer should have at least never let completely go of the uzi, so that he could have always been in control of the muzzle.

I don't know exactly what went down, but this particular accident should never have happened, and just adds fuel to the anti-gunners fire, not to mention the tragic lose of a child.

[AJMD429]

...the range officer should have at least never let completely go of the uzi, so that he could have always been in control of the muzzle.

Heck, when we have guests who want to shoot, I do that even with some of the ADULTS, and we only have SEMI-automatic firearms...!

The father has amazing self control not to choke the instructor to death, if you ask me.

[TedH]

What a terrible, preventable thing to happen. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

[adirondakjack]

At the risk of Monday morning quarterbacking, does anybody remember how shooting gallery guns at the county fair (when they used to exist) were chained to the bench, and the bench divided into "slots" such that muzzle control was physically enforced? I can see something like that being developed for use when "novices" try out full auto weaponry. If ya have a bench with two vertical side wings maybe a foot apart, and the forearm is physically tethered to the bench, ya got "positive secondary muzzle control" should the operator fail.....

[Ysabel Kid]

I am sure the father - as well as the range officer - are going through a living hell. This is just another example of why we call the basics, "the basics". Safety must be first, last, and in the middle whenever one handles a firearm or a firearm is handled by anyone around them. Muzzle control is always, always, always a must. What a shame...

[Blaine]

Maybe I'm older and/or brought up different, but: Stuff Happens.

We don't know what happened. My guess is he got scared and let go..... Beginners sometimes die while trying out a new sport. Ah, Me.... I lament the trend to "Make someone Pay"........ Seems like every local DA wants a case to hang that next election on....

[KCSO]

This is bad yes, but how is this any worse than all the 8 year olds I see driving 4 wheelers? We lost a 5 year old last year when he tipped a big Kawasaki on himself and broke his neck. Sometimes parents just don't think and the kid pays for it. It amazes me when parents put a little kid on a Tractor, jet ski, 4 wheeler, motorcycle ect and think nothing of it. Now because a GUN was involved this will get all the press in the world.

[Old Ironsights]

kuz gunz iz bad and dey kill babiez...

[jd45]

IMO there is absolutely NO reason that an 8 year old should be allowed to manipulate a fully automatic weapon. It takes strength that someone that young doesn't possess to control it. The operative word in this tragedy is "control", which the adults should've excercised on the weapon, guiding the boy, but didn't. Very sad............now these two.......the father & the instructor, will be eating themselves alive with "shoulda; coulda; & woulda's, for the rest of their lives. Very sad, indeed. jd45

[TedH]

This is bad yes, but how is this any worse than all the 8 year olds I see driving 4 wheelers? We lost a 5 year old last year when he tipped a big Kawasaki on himself and broke his neck. Sometimes parents just don't think and the kid pays for it. It amazes me when parents put a little kid on a Tractor, jet ski, 4 wheeler, motorcycle ect and think nothing of it. Now because a GUN was involved this will get all the press in the world.

Very true.

[Pete44ru]

Some media referred to the event as a gun show because the gun club involved had billed the event as a " Machine Gun Shoot & Firearms Expo" - although in reality it was a Machine Gun exhibition/participation event.

The dead youngster's father was very unemotional during his interview - with absolutely zero indications of excitation, remorse, sorrow or anger.
But then - he is a practicing Emergency Room/Trauma Center Physician near the family home in nearby CT, and presumably is hardened to such trauma.
I'm also sure he is mindful of the possible legal consequences, of any statement he may make.

After the shooting, the youngster was consious, and speaking to adults, just before he passed away.

The Mass DA is looking to presue legal action against the father, the gun club, and the adult supervisor - as it is against Mass Law for anyone under age 18 to be furnished a machine gun.
They are considering it a criminally reckless act, to hand the 8 y.o. a loaded machine gun.

Pride goes before the fall.
That boy's father had no business letting him participate in such an adult activity.
Sadly, only the young boy paid the price.

.

[OJ]

There was yet another story in this AM's newspaper - now if we could just get the press to quit reporting the event as having happened at a "GUN SHOW" - but political agenda will always be more important to them than accuracy. My brother-in-law is a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist with whom I disagreed (years ago when we were still on speaking terms) and he was "offended" when I cast his integrity in a bad light. I see him quoted in the news so I guess he's still alive !!!

He accused me of impugning his integrity and I pointed out he didn't have enough to worry about - that was over 20 years ago and he hasn't responded yet -

[pharmseller]

I let my then-6 year old boy fire my 9mm carbine. I held the carbine from behind, maintaining total control, while he pulled (not squeezed, he was 6) the trigger. We both had a blast. Ten shots, rapid fire. The key is who maintains control!
A tragedy all around.


Pharmseller

[Old Ironsights]

When a buddy's kid (age 4?) demonstrated (with an empty gun) that he could set the hammer & pull the trigger on a .44 Redhawk we took him to the range... to fire off a full load.

Only thing we did was make sure the gun didn't hit him in the head. Otherwise it was all him.

Like touching a Hot Stove, it got the point across.

[jd45]

pharmseller, IF ONLY that boy's father and/or the supervisor had done what you did, he'd be alive today. jd45

[AJMD429]

I let my then-6 year old boy fire my 9mm carbine. I held the carbine from behind, maintaining total control, while he pulled (not squeezed, he was 6) the trigger. We both had a blast. Ten shots, rapid fire. The key is who maintains control!
A tragedy all around.
Pharmseller

When my son was about eight, I sat down cross-legged with him on my lap, and 'we' (me holding and shouldering the gun and him pulling the trigger when instructed) fired a round out of an M1A Scout Rifle; I only single-loaded it 'just in case' - and nothing bad happened, but it rolled us both back into the grass.

It is typical of the media that it isn't "newsworthy" every day when a dozen kids are killed on their bicycles, but somehow it is a crisis demanding new laws if it involves guns.

If they'd only spend all that energy helping the family instead of feeding off the tragedy...but 'journalists' seem to have an inherent need to vent their hatred towards atavistic and 'uncivilized' people, and most will stoop at nothing towards that goal.

[piller]

A few years ago, here in Texas, a 10 year old boy was at a deer camp with his father. One of the men in the camp started target practicing with a .454 Casull. The adults all shot it, and the kid wanted to try it. The father and the other men finally convinced the owner to let the kid try it. He fractured his skull with the barrel due to his inability to handle the recoil. The poor kid died a few days later because his dad couldn't say, "no." I have let my kids shoot guns, and my daughter is maybe a better shot than me. Point is, I watched and helped them until they were able to handle the guns all by their selves. I said "no" plenty of times. Hurt feelings can be gotten over, but broken bones take a little longer to heal than hurt feelings do.