8 Year Old Shoots Himself With An Uzi

[Last Child]

Wow! This is so tragic and sad.

I can not understand how a parent would let their small child shoot a machine gun like this. It is my understanding that these guns have the inherent tendency of the muzzle to travel up wards with a fair amount of power.

For those of you in the military that have shot this type of gun. Does the muzzle travel up wards with a bit of force when shot?

How sad for this family. I can't imagine being a parent that gave permission for this and then had to live with the memory that I played a huge role in this. Unbearable.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/...lCTLznH.QEtbAF

[shlingdawg]

Terrible accident. I can't say that I'd be okay with my 8 year old firing an automatic weapon. Hell, even a .22 is stretching it for an 8 year old.

But, I guess it happens more often than I thought.

[RugerShooter]

My question is what in the hell were they letting a 8yr old shoot a Uzi????

[BruteForce]

An Uzi has minimal recoil. I just have to assume the child was scared, wasn't hold it firmly and the little recoil it did have was enough.

I started teaching my boys to shoot at an early age (9-10 years old). Each time they would fire though, I would be helping them hold the weapon (Shotgun, rifle, 9mm, etc).

Why do I teach them to shoot so early - so they won't have a fear of weapons, know what NOT to do it they encounter one without parental supervision, know how to check loaded/unloaded status and finally so they can dispatch an animal with a single shot, thereby minimizing any pain.

[Mtnman1830]

My soon-to-be 9 year old has his own BB gun. I have taught him to always wear saftey glasses and when I am shooting my guns around him, Hearing protection, and don't point a gun at anything that you don't want to kill.

He has shot my .22 and my 9mm carbine.

With my guns in the house, I have taught him to not handle any guns with out me by his side. I have put him to the test, while camping - and left a (unloaded) gun of my buddies where he could see it.

When he discovered it, he looked at it, but didn't touch it and came and got me.

[JP]

Full automatics have a tendency to climb with each shot.

[Last Child]

Full automatics have a tendency to climb with each shot.

That's what I thought. I could have sworn I saw that on some machine gun documentary a long time ago.

I also see nothing wrong with teaching kids how to shoot and be responsible. I had my first BB gun at eight, 22 at 10, 12 gauge at 12, and 7mm magnum at 16. But good god letting an 8 year old shoot a machine gun that is not mounted to anything...so irresponsible...in my opinion. A bb gun sure. Maybe even a 22. But an Uzi?

I would hate to have that on my conscience.

[JP]

But an Uzi?

I would hate to have that on my conscience.

Anybody would hate to have the death of their child on their hands due to an accident or anything else.

Obviously this kid has shot his fair share of weapons. The thought was probably that he handled others before this one and possibly this one before and the thought was probably the furthest from anyone's mind that a tragedy was about to unfold. It obviously was. These are accidents and they unfortunately happen. Because it was a gun, it's plastered throughout the US. If it was an eight year old kid on a motorcycle that fell, broke his neck and died due to his injuries, it would have been a local spot in the paper and on the nightly local news. Mention gun and tragedy, it gets a fire started. Motorcycles, boats, skateboards, lawnmowers, quads and just about anything else will never make the national news if they were the causes.

[accadacca]

Guns kill people. . .

[shlingdawg]

Guns kill people. . .

More often than not, it's actually the bullets that do the killing.......

[accadacca]

Guns kill people. . .

More often than not, it's actually the bullets that do the killing.......

Sorry, thanks for the correction.

[JP]

People kill people more

[Don]

Sad story. Started teaching my boy about guns at 5. He shot his first gun, a single shot .22, at age 6. As already stated here; I believe that teaching them a healthy respect and proper use and care of a gun is the safest way to keep guns in a home with children. Of course I sure as shit would not let him fire a fully automatic (or plenty of other guns) at his current age of 7.

JP has a good point about the politics of this story. Kids die every day, but the car, motorcycle and swimming pool accidents only make the local news while a gun accident is being discussed here.