Charges possible in boy’s Uzi death
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Authorities in Massachusetts are considering whether criminal charges should be filed in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself with an Uzi submachine gun at a gun show.
Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett said Tuesday he hasn’t been able to find any law that would authorize a child to possess or fire a machine gun.
Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was trying out one of the weapons at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club on Sunday when he lost control, shooting himself in the head.
An instructor was watching the boy at a firing range and the youngster’s father was a few feet away.
Bennett says he’s looking into whether anyone committed a reckless or wanton act when they allowed the boy to fire the weapon.
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Charges possible in boy’s Uzi death
Charges possible? They should be a certainty!
As I said yesterday, 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!
I own a few firearms, one happens to be a Springfield XD-45 Tactical pistol, it hold 14 rounds of 230gr .45 caliber ammunition, it is a semi auto-loader, meaning that your must pull the trigger each time you want to fire it, but it will keep on firing until you stop pulling the trigger or you run out of ammo. When my wife shoots it for the 1st time, it will have ONE round in the chamber and NONE in the magazine. She is an experienced shooter, of smaller calibers, all revolvers, but just in case this larger caliber auto-loader gun *spooks* her, or in some way gets away from her, we don’t have an accident waiting to happen with the 13 additional rounds in the magazine.
Let’s talk about RESPONSIBLE gun ownership and support. I was raised with weapons, my father was a gunsmith, he had heart surgery twice and the 2nd time really messed up his chest, left him very *tender*, so I got to do ALL the test firing on heavy caliber weapons, thus I was able to get lots of shooting in at a young age. BUT, I was well trained, well supervised and until such time that I was thought to be fully capable, I was under stringent supervision. And I wasn’t 8 years old, I was more like 14 or 15 at the time, fairly mature for my age and it was, all in all, one hell of a great experience.
I didn’t fire my 1st fully automatic weapon until I was 18 years old, I stood 6’1″, weighed about 210 pounds and had several years of serious experience with weapons, and I had a very good idea of what to expect when the Thompson submachine gun went off. It did, as ALL full autos are inclined to do, go into a climb, meaning that the barrel rose in elevation as I held the trigger. But I knew to let off of the trigger to STOP the climb. Apparently, someone forgot to tell that to the 8 year old kid when they let him have a go at a fully loaded Uzi.
There is NO WAY that an 8 year old kid had ANY business firing a full auto ANYTHING, regardless of the level of supervision, he WAS and 8 year old kid, and even if he had been privvy to a few *tips* on the handling of a full auto, when he pulled the trigger and that thing started cooking, ALL of his *tips* went right out the window.
I have seen grown men and women lose control of a full auto weapon. I have seen experienced gunners come close to losing control on occasion. The father of this child and the so-called instructor need to be tied to a tree and horse whipped, repeatedly.
This tragic event is NOT something that should even remotely bring about ANY kind of laws against the LEGAL ownership of Class III weapons in general, what this is, basically, is nothing more than a testament to the fact that their MUST be some common sense applied when shooting ANY firearm, by the supposed ADULTS involved.
And in this particular case, NONE was, and a child lost his life, because of that lack of parental responsibility!
I often wonder if complete and utter stupidity should be a ‘shooting offense’. But since it isn’t, “tied to a tree and horse whipped” will work.
Kate, did ya notice?? I put the IMPORTANT parts in BOLD and RED?? Maybe the IDIOTS will actually *get it* this time…
When someone asks “Why do we have so many laws?” or “why do we need so many Lawyers?” This type of stuff is exactly the reason.
We quit treating the people that allow this stuff to happen as Rules rather than the exception to the rule.
How many KIDS (Under 16) shoot themselves with Fully Auto Weapons at Gun shows or legal shooting ranges? I think if you collected the data from the time fully auto weapons were created till now you would find a single digit number.
Rather than just saying “This should never happen, and those that allowed this to happen should be punished” We get all of the Gun Control arguments and the point the fingers at everyone except the darwin award father.
Yessir….I did notice that. Made me grin and think that if anyone confuses your words this time, then they really are STOOPID.
And the so-called instructor that allowed it bears responsibility too, there has to be some assumed responsibility, and that instructor was, ultimately, the final word, and he screwed the pooch, in a REALLY BIG way…
If anyone thinks a 9mm Uzi doesn’t give that much of a recoil, check out this video. This is a grown man and look how it moves him backwards. Although it may not look like much, imagine him being 8 years old.
YouTube - Uzi Full-Auto
BobF, EXACTLY right, now for any that just don’t quite get the picture, try to imagine THAT in the hands of an 8 year old child…
Here’s another YouTube video, there are tons of em… And they ALL show the example of what recoil is all about.
YouTube - Uzi Silenced 9mm & .45 ACP
I think you said it best:
Responsible Gun Ownership!
What idiot gives a fully loaded automatic weapon to a child?
What idiot gives an unloaded automatic weapon to a child without first teaching the child gun safety and drumming it into their head?
When I first taught my children about guns, safety came first. And locking them up so the kids couldn’t play with them. As they got older, they were more aware of what a gun was and not to play with it as a toy. A GUN IS NOT A TOY!
When will parents wake up and finally teach that to their kids?
Holy crap! They let an 8 year old fire one of those things?????? I guess I didn’t understand quite how powerful they are in the hands of a grown man, much less a little boy. No, I’ve never fired one, and odds are, never will. I don’t think I have enough strength to control it.
Fred
Both of the so-called “adults” should be pistol whipped until they see Jesus.
I have read both posts on this and agree with you about complete lack of responsibility in this case. As more gun restrictions and lack of available ranges make gun ownership and exposure to weapons more uncommon for suburban and urban kids, weapons misuse and irresponsible behavior becomes a much bigger risk. Ignorant Kids grow into ignorant adults and I have seen many examples of this on ranges I visit.
One item that keeps stinging me is item 3:
“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 read it in your first post and now the second and both times I have had to question your intent for number 3. So if I meet the training requirement, mature adult, and have the skills to handle it, are you saying I have to have a NEED for it? If you think I have to have a need for a full auto weapon, who determines need? Is that part of the responsibility of the individual like the rest of the post or an external reference to enforcement?
You have explained your position quite well and the experiences you shared have backed up your position but item 3 doesn’t seem to fit in the context.
My very first personally-owned handgun was a Colt Python. My first set of rounds through it were full-flame factory rounds on a private range, not the wadcutters cops customarily used for quals at the time. At 5’10″ and 180 pounds I found the full-chat .357 rounds (until I had proper and adequate training!) a challenge. The fact pattern in this situation does in fact warrant a case for charges and YES, the Master for THAT range was negligent as well. HE should have the overarching responsibility for a clean, disciplined and SAFE range.
You don’t need more laws, you don’t need a full scale assault on the Second, all you need to do is examine the fact pattern and compare it to the Massachusetts penal code.
BZ
That pretty much covers MY particular feelings on the matter… Personally, I don’t see a NEED for the average guy to own a machine gun, a tank, a rocket launcher, a nuke, you get the idea…
I know many police officers that are private owners of full autos, I know many that have assault rifles that are NOT full autos, I feel that the military and law enforcement has a NEED in owning and/or possessing full autos, I know many retired military and/or police that own assault weapons that are in both configurations, I know several civilians that own full auto and semi auto assault weapons, and I have NO problem with that, they feel a NEED and can demonstrate ALL the skills you ever saw, but I don’t believe that EVERY person that can afford to buy one, license and register it and afford to shoot it NEED to have one, some folks just don’t have the common sense necessary, ie: the range-master that let the 8 year old kid fire an UZI in full auto with a full magazine…
And again, this is a personal thing for me, MY opinion, I wouldn’t have a full auto weapon, they are inefficient ammo wasters for someone of MY abilities! You’ll just have to figure that one out for yourself I suppose…
I’m a physicist. I looked at two youtube clips - both shooters were using shoulder stocks. I’m guessing the 8 yr old kid wasn’t.
Without shoulder stock, its going to rotate very quickly and into the face if the shooter isn’t strong enough. With a shoulder stock it should be impossible to shoot oneself in the head?
Fred said “Personally, I don’t see a NEED for the average guy to own a machine gun, a tank, a rocket launcher, a nuke”
Damn that was my whole Christmas wish list..
I do agree with your opinion on the Tank, and the Nuke, but if the Obama policies mirror his uncles in Kenya WE might wish we had a few Rocket Launchers and Machine Guns.
Start Rant
I think one thing that folks are not seeing in this debate is: The police, the very people we charge with protecting us, need to be better armed than the criminals they have to confront. IF fully Auto’s are as easy to obtain as a shotgun, then the odds of criminals winning that confrontation go up. I respect the L.E. community for what they do. So I will throw my support behind THEIR Opinion on the matter. ( I do know there are some bad apples in uniform) I agree there should be a need for the fully auto weapon. I love to hunt, and in hunting you only usually get one shot.
End rant.
Caladan58, I have to agree, or possibly, if it DID have a stock, an 8 year old wasn’t big enough to properly shoulder the weapon and had it tucked in UNDER his arm… All speculation of course, but it makes sense either way, stock or NO stock, I just can’t condone handing a kid that age a fully loaded MG and letting him blast away..
@ Caladan, You don’t have to be a physicist to see you are partly correct. However; it would not be IMPOSSIBLE it would simply be more difficult…
Like I always told my kid, there’s a difference between want and need. I want to be tall, skinny, rich and gorgeous, but I don’t need to be.
Likewise, I don’t need a weapon like that. Not sure if I want one either. But like you said Fred, there are some folks who do have the need, and they should be able to have them. Those are people that I would trust….not a moronic ‘father’ that doesn’t have sense to pour piss out of a boot!
Now, as for those tanks and such….
It’s a damned shame when ya get cheated outta ALL of it…
Damn skippy! Sometimes, like is just SOOOO unfair.
Not knowing all of the circumstances it is hard for me to believe that one hell of a lot of safety rules were violated right off the bat!
That, on the face of it leads me to believe that charges are indeed appropriate. Reckless endangerment resulting in death, negligence by a person in a place or position of trust as an aggravating circumstance, and child abuse via negligence resulting in death just spring out at you on the face of it.
Having been a Range Officer, and SRO I am just dumbfounded that this could happen.
As for the youtube videos..? I have shot at one time or another virtually every version of the Uzi and I never saw that sort of muzzle rise, especially the suppressed versions. Hell, I prefer those because of the increased control that the suppressor adds.
As to the physics involved Fred nailed it; the kid was just to damned small to be firing that weapon. The responsibility extends to the father, the R.O, and the SRO. They were all ultimately responsible for this tragedy. Now, they must be held accountable for this needless event.
This story is too sad.
I know people are seeking to place blame, but this father is going to have a hard enough time living with himself.
I’m all for the right to bear arms and responsible gun ownership, but I agree with you Fred, about assault weapons. In the hands of any 8 year old, at that.