Police chief, gun club indicted in boy’s Uzi death
December 4th, 2008 . by TexasFredPolice chief, gun club indicted in boy’s Uzi death
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – A police chief and a gun club in western Massachusetts have been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun at a gun fair. Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury owns the COP Firearms & Training, which sponsored the gun show last month in Westfield.Christopher Bizilj (bah-SEAL’) of Ashford, Conn., shot himself in the head when he lost control of the 9mm micro submachine gun as it recoiled while he was firing at a pumpkin.
The Westfield Sportsman’s Club and two other men also were indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges.
Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett said Fleury and the club also face four charges of furnishing a machine gun to a minor.
Fleury and the club did not immediately return calls for comment.
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Police chief, gun club indicted in boy’s Uzi death
I am dead set against full auto loading weapons being in the hands of ANYONE that is NOT 1) fully trained, 2) an adult, that is to say: MATURE, 3) a person with a specific NEED for such weapon, and 4) a person that possesses sufficient strength, knowledge and skill to control said weapon. I fully believe that there was NO parental responsibility exhibited here, none!! Not in ANY way. The father was *present*, but to call this act in ANY way *responsible* is just not something that I can do!Charges possible in boy’s Uzi death and here: Boy, 8, dies after accidentally shooting self at gun show
I am however, calling for some serious maturity to be exercised, and personal responsibility to be exhibited, in the use of these weapons, and discretion in WHO is allowed to shoot said weapons!
I hope that all concerned in this tragedy, those that through their carelessness cost an 8 year old boy his life, I hope they lose their Class III licenses, their property (gun club) and some of their freedom!This was not just one of those unavoidable accidents. This was an act of utter lunacy, an act that was ALLOWED to happen, by supposedly responsible adults, people that were too stupid to own a water pistol!
Even with smaller cartridges, you are going to get recoil when you pull the trigger and hold. It’s like holding onto a rocket. Why the hell someone wasn’t standing there holding the gun with him is just baffling. An eight year old has NO STRENGTH AND NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT.
Poor child.
Thanks for the update Fred. I posted over at CLO about this… Travesty? Tragedy? I am still almost at a loss of words to describe how I feel.
Contrary to what the Prosecutor has found, I believe that the father does have some role in accountability in this.
Lets all take the high road and let the investigation and prosecution go forward. Then, learn from this horrible occurrence, and do whatever needs to be done to ensure that something like this never happens again.
Thanks for the follow up Fred. Even with a hold down of an adult, there was absolutely no reason for an 8 year old to be firing a UZI.
I am glad to hear that someone is being held responsible for this actr of lunacy, I just can’t think of a punishment that would be severe enough.
Carl, I can… And it involves an UZI…
That’s true, GM. Eight is really, really young. They can barely handle a red rider without shooting their eye out.
Seriously, though, there is no reason for an eight year old to be shooting an uzi, ever.
I read over on Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler that some genius was saying that the Uzi fired 1700 rounds a minute. That’s about 30 rounds a second. I’d like to see that. Still no 8 year old should be fooling around with one of these things.
Then again we had a chief of police here in Ohio shoot himself in the leg because he forgot that auto loaders could still have one in the pipe. And he’d just finished giving his daughter a lesson in gun safety. And no I’m not making this up.
Most excellent news. Perhaps people will think twice before putting such a weapon in a small child’s hands!
This is one of the saddest and most tragic things I have read lately. There was absolutely no reason for the boy’s death other than gross negligence on the part of adults.
Sheesh – they can sell these weapons at a gun show? And a Police Chief can sponsor it? I don’t want anyone messing with our right to own arms, but I’m surprised that this weapon is legal to be sold in this venue.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY of adults to supervise children when around firearms. I hope they hang these idiots.
Nothing to be surprised at Maggie, it is quite legal to sell and own, with proper license and taxes, my ONLY gripe is letting an 8 year old kid shoot one… That is a travesty…
As a father, it’s my responsibility to protect my children and as such, I bear responsibility for anything that happens to them in my presence. In this case, the father bears the responsibility to what he allowed his son to do. The range official that allowed the boy to shoot the weapon also bears responsibility but, to me, the father bears the lion’s share.
This past Thanksgiving my eldest son the new 45 auto that I purchased. My wife’s 9 year old grandson was there with us and asked if he could hold my 2” 38 revolver. I opened it up to ensure it wasn’t loaded…I knew it wasn’t but I always check, and handed it to him. My oldest son then grabbed the boys hand holding the gun and told him, “never handle any gun until you, yourself, make sure it isn’t loaded”. He then showed the boy how I pushed the button to open the cylinder and inspect it to make sure it wasn’t loaded. I taught my son right and now he’s teaching others.
By the way, have you all seen this video of people shooting the t-rex rifle?
Oops. Embed didn’t work.
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQJSZs-euZU
Talking about recoil…
Speaking as someone who has three children, all of which are familiar and very respectful of weapons, I would never let my kids fire a fully automatic weapon. This is sheer insanity.
My oldest son is 11 and has fired several assault weapons, AK-47, AR-15, M-1 Garand and even an Armor Lite .50 cal (with my help of course or it would have picked him up off the ground). None of those were automatics.
He has watched me shoot an HK MP5 and a FN P90 (really fun to shoot) and he never even asked to fire the weapons because he knew better.
I am not sure that I could live with myself if my own stupidity and irresponsibility cause the death of my child.