ProTip: Don't give a 9 year old an Uzi

[Neo Ash]

What a dumbass. How can a 9 year old child be excepted to handle this type of gun? I'm pro-gun, but this was stupid.

Opinions....

Child firing Uzi at Arizona shooting range accidentally kills instructor, police say


(CNN) -- A 9-year-old girl learning to fire a submachine gun accidentally killed her instructor at a shooting range when the weapon recoiled over her shoulder, according to Arizona authorities.

The instructor, 39-year-old Charles Vacca, died at a hospital late Monday night after he was shot in the head.

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office said the girl was with her parents. The website of Bullets and Burgers, the shooting range where the accident happened, says children between the ages of 8 and 17 can shoot a weapon if accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Police identified the weapon as an Uzi, an Israeli-made submachine gun.

It wasn't the first fatal accident involving a child and an Uzi. In 2008, an 8-year-old boy in Massachusetts accidentally shot himself with a micro Uzi during a gun show.

In Arizona, cell phone video released by authorities Tuesday shows the moments before the fatal shots were fired, CNN affiliate KLAS reported.

In the video, Vacca and the girl are at an outdoor range. The wind blows a target in the distance. Vacca shows the child how to hold the gun and then helps her establish her grip and her stance. She fires one round and dirt flies above the target. Vacca adjusts the Uzi, places his right hand on her back and his left under her right arm.

She fires several rounds in rapid succession and the gun kicks to the left as she loses control. The video ends before the fatal head shot. In releasing the video, authorities did not identify who made it.

KLAS reported the girl was a tourist from the Northeast.

Kids and guns: What's your parenting style?

Sam Scarmardo, who operates Bullets and Burgers, told KLAS they "really don't know what happened."

"Our guys are trained to basically hover over people when they're shooting," he said. "If they're shooting right-handed, we have our right-hand behind them ready to push the weapon out of the way. And if they're left-handed, the same thing."

Vacca was married, well-liked and a veteran, KLAS said.

The range, which is about an hour's drive from Las Vegas, says on its Facebook page: "We separate ourselves from all other Las Vegas ranges with our unique 'Desert Storm' atmosphere and military style bunkers."

In the Massachusetts incident, former Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury was found not guilty in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj, who was firing the micro Uzi when he accidentally shot himself in the head at a gun show Fleury helped organize. The boy died instantly.

Fleury also was acquitted of three counts of furnishing a machine gun to a minor.

Christopher's father, Charles Bizilj, was present at the time of the shooting and videotaped the entire incident. Parts of that tape were shown to the jury, which also heard emotional testimony from the father.

"I ran over to him. His eyes were open and I saw no reason for him to be on the ground," Bizilj told members of the Hampden County jury. "And I tried to talk to him and he didn't respond. I put my hand behind his head to try to pick him up and there was a large portion of his cranium missing. And I put my hand against the back of his head."

 

[Phyeir]

All types of stupid. This is why for shotgun/rifles there are smaller models meant to use smaller recoil rounds.

Progun as well and I would never consider giving such a high control need arm to someone that small.

 

[Adderall]

 

[Neodogg]

Saw this, not the smartest. (going to avoid the using the head joke) You'd think an instructor would think about kick back? Could have put his left hand on her arms. Could be voted for a Darwin Award?

 

[Kristian Meller]

Serious question: What are Uzis for? Who uses them?

 

[neo_mao]

This was no accident. I've heard that kid was super racist.

 

[NeoSneth]

Guns! 'Merica
One gun fer every child!

The sad thing is this is gonna mess the girl up for most of her life. This was not likely her idea.

 

[ki_atsushi]

Serious question: What are Uzis for? Who uses them?

Boy, you're even more out of touch than I thought.

 

[Halfabag]

Absolutely fuckin stupid.

Stupid fucking parent(s).

Stupid fucking instructor/company.

Anti gun.

 

[Kristian Meller]

Boy, you're even more out of touch than I thought.

I read in the OP that it's Israeli made. Other than that, I'm at a loss as to what it's supposed to be used for. I'm not trying to fuck with your 2nd amendment or anything.

 

[Chempop]

In the Massachusetts incident, former Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury was found not guilty in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj, who was firing the micro Uzi when he accidentally shot himself in the head at a gun show Fleury helped organize. The boy died instantly.

Fleury also was acquitted of three counts of furnishing a machine gun to a minor.

My old D.A.R.E. instructor!

 

[Neo Ash]

I read in the OP that it's Israeli made. Other than that, I'm at a loss as to what it's supposed to be used for. I'm not trying to fuck with your 2nd amendment or anything.

Skip about a 1 minute into this video if you don't want to watch it all.

 

[Taiso]

Here we go. Another round of media fear mongering and rationalization that puts the blame on firearms rather than where it actually belongs.

 

[Neo Ash]

Here we go. Another round of media fear mongering and rationalization that puts the blame on firearms rather than where it actually belongs.

Word. The gun is only as stupid as its' operator.

There's no way that little girl could handle that gun blasting in full auto.

 

[Taiso]

Bear in mind that I don't have a dog in the fight over gun control. I don't normally get into the bureaucracy and politics of this kind of stuff.

But this is a clear case where human beings, across the board, made stupid decisions and this is the result.

But the gun will get blamed by someone, because this story will not be about dealing with the incident in a rational manner. It'll become a highly politicized issue and dominate the airwaves for weeks for that ratings hike.

-children
-death
-guns

The only thing missing from this making it a media grand slam of shite is sex. And thank god for that.

 

[Syn]

Pro gun, so much poor judgment by so many. That's what kills people, not guns per se.

 

[Opethian]

I heard she has a cult following in the 'underground' mix tape circles. This is just the move to take her to the next level.

 

[Kristian Meller]

It's obviously an assassination. The girl and her folks are from the Northeast, so it's quite easy to see that they're a bunch of evil liberals come to the southwest to kill some pro-gun people.

 

[Fuzzytaco]

Boy, you're even more out of touch than I thought.

He doesn't know what they are because they can't be purchased at the markets in Christania.

 

[Kristian Meller]

No, they definitely don't approve of guns

 

[hyper]

I can understand a 22 rifle, maybe when the kids like 15

but a sub machine gun... lol

parent of the year award

 

[ki_atsushi]

I read in the OP that it's Israeli made.

Yes, it's a machine gun that was invented by an Israeli Officer and used by the Israeli Defense Forces from the 1950's through the 80's.

Other than that, I'm at a loss as to what it's supposed to be used for. I'm not trying to fuck with your 2nd amendment or anything.

It's used to kill, what do you fucking think?


P.S. - I don't even own a gun.

 

[cannonball]

What a dumbass. How can a 9 year old child be excepted to handle this type of gun? I'm pro-gun, but this was stupid.

Opinions....

A 9 year old shouldn't be handling any type of gun.

 

[Phyeir]

A 9 year old shouldn't be handling any type of gun.

Not necessarily.

I grew up on a farm and knew how to handle firearms at a young age, nothing crazy just .22s at that age. If there were ever the circumstance where my parents were tending to one part of the farm and I saw a fox stalking the hens or something, I'd need to know how to kill it.

All of my cousins were the same way.

 

[hyper]

A 9 year old shouldn't be handling any type of gun.

I agree with this statement. this isn't the fucking patriot starring Mel Gibson. there are no redcoats pillaging my cotton field