Today in Westfield, Massachusetts, an eight-year old boy accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi submachine gun. He died later at an area hospital. According to the AP, he was firing the weapon under the supervision of a certified instructor.
I know next to nothing about guns, so I don’t know at what age a child can be reasonably expected to handle a weapon safely. But even before reading this tragic story, I would think eight years old is too young to handle a submachine gun.
My reaction to this story isn’t about the Second Amendment, which I generally support. It’s about whether it’s reasonable to allow an eight-year-old to handle a loaded submachine gun. Is it? Is this a freak accident or a case of absurd irresponsibility?
Unbelievable. Even if you think it is ok to have an Uzi (for what, I can’t imagine, other than an assault on an enemy encampment during an invasion by Slovenia), how can you possibly give a child a weapon like this and think it is safe, even ok, in any circumstance. The child is dead. There is no going back and doing it over.
absurd irresponsibility!!!
As long as automatic weapons are used for recreation and sport, these tragic incidences will occur. I am sick to death of the conversation s we have after children are killed by their parent’s dangerous toys. Talk of responsible ownership, while children are anywhere near, is bull. A machine gun in the hand of a child is a tragedy waiting to happen. Shame upon the hubris of the instructor who took his hands off of this weapon, and shame, indeed,on the bloggers who will defend their guns over this child’s dead body. Enough!
The father of this child should be charged with manslaughter like everyone else.
I listened to his comments following the incident ,when he said he knows his son died happy doing what he wanted to do. He was eight years old,that’s why we have parents to make these kind of decisions. Don’t let him off the hook.
ha shit happens.. u ppl are retarded for being so mad at the guy.. its not ur kid so stfu.. he has to live with the responsibility of his child’s death, but on the otherhands the 2nd amendment has probably prevented our great state from being invaded by someone.. i mean hell.. if the chinks come they are gonna have millions of pissed off rednecks to deal with.. in that case id be mroe afraid of them than the marine corps
It’s just a mistake nobody should be at fault
uncle sam taught him to shoot a little to well, finger on the trigger LOAD IT PULL IT! and he hit the stage so full of rage and let the whole world kno it…..from six feet away they heard him say oh god please dont let him do it! Oh god please dont let him pull it! how could you put us throught it!?!?!?!?! how could u take his life away! how could be so full of hate! (to take away somebodys life) and when i heard u let the whole world wonder y i sat at home and cried alone and scratched your name in the side of a bullet!….nickelback-side of a bullet