1. a young pre-adolescent female just does not have the physical strength to control guns--any gun a

[riversedge]

I had responded to a previous thread about this issue. My comment was personal--I recall my younger days and hunting rifles recoiling on me--and bloodied noses and swollen eyes. And that was just a small hunting rifle as I was learning to shoot from my aunts. Yes, as several other posts said--in many parts of the country we learn young to handle guns--I would say hunting rifles. I was perhaps 11 or 12 or 13 with a small hunting rifle.

Anyway, I still maintain that a young girl just does not have the physical strength to handle a automatic weapon. I did a little research--and basically came up with similar accounts of how it happened. If anyone has any other info. please share.




My earlier comment:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5455412

"1. a young pre-adolescent female just does not have the physical strength to control guns--any gun at that stage. I doubt if boys at that age do either. IMHO



How Does a 9-Year-Old Come to Shoot a Fully Automatic Weapon?
The Uzi tragedy in Arizona, explained.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/uzi-arizona-9-year-old-girl

—By Rebecca Cohen
| Thu Aug. 28, 2014 2:29 PM EDT

An Uzi. Keary O./Flickr

A 9-year-old in Arizona accidentally killed her gun instructor on Monday when the Uzi he was teaching her to fire recoiled out of her control and shot him in the head. A video of the incident shows 39-year-old Charles Vacca switching the gun into automatic mode, then standing at the girl's side as she pulls the trigger and the weapon's force wrenches her arm in his direction.

Many commentators have since expressed disbelief—though not the NRA, which was busy talking up fun for kids at gun ranges—that a child was permitted to wield a weapon with such firepower..................




How hard is it to handle one of these guns?

Quartz's Gwynn Guilford did the math: With the average American 9-year-old girl weighing about 60 pounds, and the average Uzi weighing 7 to 9 pounds, "That would be roughly equal to a 40-year-old man firing a 25-pound gun like, say, the Hotchkiss M1909 used in trench warfare in World Wars I and II—a weapon so heavy it sat on a tripod." (Ironically, the Uzi is designed to be relatively light in the hands of an adult, which can also make handling its powerful recoil more tricky.)...


Has anything like this happened before and what might it mean for the national gun debate?

Sadly, this tragedy is not the first of its kind. An 8-year-old Massachusetts boy died at a gun show in 2008, when an Uzi he was firing at pumpkins kicked back and he shot himself in the head. The former police chief who organized the show and provided the child with the weapon was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter.

[Warpy]

1. Gwynn needs to drop the silly arithmetic and study some anatomy

A nine year old doesn't have the bone mass and muscle strength to handle an Uzi.

The proof of that is one dead guy.

This was a tragedy the first time. The second time, it's sheer stupidity. If there is a third time, it should be a felony, only stupid people are going to be flummoxed by idiots like Gwynn.

[riversedge]

3. Agree--the anatomy and physical

characteristics--such as muscle mass-- of the kid are more important.

[Adam051188]

2. let her shoot it, it's fun, what could go wrong?!

[link:|

[LittleBlue]

4. IMHO she could be able to handle a revolver

.38 or lower. Not much power in those, not like a .357 mag. I shot one when I was that age.

Main thing is, you don't give her a full automatic. Or a shotgun. Hell, I'd even stay away from a semi-auto. Revolvers, in my experience, are much harder to fire accidentally.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. This is satire, right?

[LittleBlue]

12. No. nt

[Thinkingabout]

5. As I watched the video, the young lady appeared to be stiff with the gun in her hand.

I felt sorry for her, I don't know if they allowed her to handle the gun before setting her up with live ammo but if they did then they should have realized she was not up to handling the weapon. If she was not able to handle the weapon before, then I would think this may have been a break down. Don't push these weapons on young children, it is a great possibility she would live a normal life span so there would be plenty of time for her to make the decisions when she is accountable. We cant vote until 18, can drive until later and after training. We could apply this to guns like the uzi.

[riversedge]

6. One article I read today said the

girl just let off one shot then the instructor put in auto mode and ......well the accident happened.


But I agree, lessons should be in order!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. That young girl will probably be traumatized for life

I know a man died here and that's sad and unfortunate. But I can't in any way blame the girl. She should not have been allowed to shoot such a weapon. i hate to think that this tragedy probably ruined two lives.

[marions ghost]

10. "We could apply this to guns like the uzi."

Duh.

Can't vote, can't drive, can't drink, needs to wear a helmet on a bike--and we give her an uzi.

We need LAWS and penalties--that stop this insanity.

[Jeneral2885]

7. and the pro-gun lobby

will say depriving her of a gun is infringing on her rights. I used an almost similar argument on the Guardian newspaper and some nut tried to say I dont know the Second Amendment.

[Cartoonist]

9. Has the NRA checked in yet?

Clearly, the girl has a Constitutional right to fire a gun. I see no legislation coming forward to restrict such incidents.

[logosoco]

14. I heard they put on Twitter a list of 7 ways for your children to have fun with guns.

It has since been removed from their Twitter feed.

The article I read mentioned that it talked about how kids will get bored with just shooting at regular targets, so parents should do things to make it more interesting.

[quadrature]

13. Las Vegas" the issue was money.

the instructor has to make a decision,
to turn away business, or not.

[REP]

15. I was handling a Stevens .22 just fine at that age

Very few people should be handling a fully automatic weapon at any age, though. Letting a child fire one is insane. Untrained grown men can't control them well.

[Warpy]

16. Absolutely.

I shot an air pistol at 8. I shot a .22 long gun at 11. Because my vision sucked, I wasn't much good at either.

If someone had handed me an Uzi, I'd have been a menace at that age. Most kids are.

ETA:

Yes I know most of those guns knocking adults flat have more of a kick than an Uzi does to adults. However, this kid was nine years old. Stupidity and fanatacism about guns prevented the adults from noticing she was simply not strong enough to handle that gun.

[LeftyMom]

17. Having been a pre-adolescent girl (and a very small one) I know that's not true.

Now a child of that age has no business handling any weapon that kicks much or is otherwise difficult to control, but a well-supervised child of nine can absolutely fire a .22. It's barely more difficult than firing a decent pellet or BB gun.

I know because I personally damaged many Pepsi cans with one at that age, perfectly safely.

But I did so under the supervision of a parent who was fanatical about gun safety and who absolutely would not have permitted me to touch a weapon he wasn't certain I could use correctly. Obviously an Uzi falls into that latter category, and I'd go so far as to say that as an adult but still very small woman I still wouldn't feel at all comfortable using one.