Eight year old shoots self with Uzi, dies.

[sharesunited]

I know the 2A crowd will join me in lamenting this as tragic.

But can I get an amen for this was wrong?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/27/boy.shoots.himself.ap/index.html

[PJPhreak]

1. I just read this a few minutes ago

One question...
WHAT FREAKING IDIOT LETS AN EIGHT YEAR OLD FIRE AN UZI!!!!
I was Fifteen before my gun collecting Father would even let me touch anything more powerful than a Dasiy BB Rifle!!!

[The Shadow]

2. Very Sad, Very Sad Indeed!

While I am sure this will haunt his dad for the rest for his life (not to mention others, brother and witnesses) I find this extremely tragic. I love to shoot, always have, was raised in a hunting family (I haven't hunted in over 27 years, but enjoy shooting at a range). Guns are not toys, they are serious business, deadly in fact when not given the respect they deserve. I am sure the boy and his dad may have thought it would be a "neat" thing to shoot the Uzi. Unfortunately, the father and those supervising the shoot should have understood the overwhelming power of this weapon in the hands of an eight year old. Obviously, guns are not toys and must be given the respect they deserve always otherwise tragedies such as this will occur. My heart goes out to the family for their grievous loss. Sad.

[rwheeler31]

4. Guns do not need respect, people do.

[The Shadow]

5. I Mean That In The Same Way That A Sailor Respects The Sea

For she is a dangerous and unforgiving mistress.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. Oh my god. You have got to be kidding me.

If you don't respect guns, this kind of shit happens. I grew up around guns. They were all over the house. We never touched them. We were allowed to play with the pellet/BB gun with adult supervision. However, if we touched the others were in some serious shit. We learned to respect them and our parents. Guns aren't the problem. Dumb as shit people are. And don't tell me they wouldn't kill people if there were no guns. There are no guns in England, but people still find ways to kill each other when they're motivated. They have for CENTURIES before the gun was invented.
Duckie

[ecstatic]

3. Might as well say: "Irresponsible adults shoot 8 yr old"

I hold them responsible, not the child.

[depakid]

6. Criminally negligent homicide

Though one might ask whether or to what extent it ought to be prosecuted.

Yet another of the many reasons why other western nations:

1. Responsibly regulate firearms; and

2. Retain traditional judicial discretion as to sentencing.

[benEzra]

8. This firearm was as tightly controlled as a 500-lb bomb or 105mm howitzer.

Yet another of the many reasons why other western nations:

1. Responsibly regulate firearms;

This firearm was as tightly controlled as a bomb or a 105mm howitzer. It was a NFA Title 2/Class III restricted machinegun, not a non-automatic civilian firearm.

[TxRider]

14. I agree

And I'm a gun totin Texan.

Incredibly irresponsible actions by parent..

As for punishment, I have to think that no punishment could top seeing your 8 year old die in front of you, knowing you put the gun in his hand...

He'll be in his own prison for the rest of his life..

[AlinPA]

15. Well said. nt

[Forrest Greene]

7. I Live About Twenty, Thirty Miles

...south of where this occurred. The local news covered it firsthand. Someone from the dead child's hometown, I believe he was, was quoted as saying the event was "unexplainable."

I'm not so sure about that.

[RamboLiberal]

9. Get this - A police chief ran this machine gun shoot

PELHAM - Targets for shooting practice were lined up in the rain Tuesday outside Police Chief Edward B. Fleury's home.

A stack of business cards and notes from reporters - including Boston area television stations - were wedged in the door frame. Several cars and a police cruiser were parked in the driveway, but no one answered the door.

The man who organized Sunday's machine gun shoot and firearms expo where an 8-year-old boy was accidentally shot was nowhere to be found in this town of about 1,400 where he's served as chief law enforcement officer since 1991.

Fleury is also the owner of COP Firearms & Training, which co-sponsored the event at the Westfield Sportsman's Club where Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., died after accidentally shooting himself in the head. Over the course of his career as chief, Fleury has taught gun safety classes in town and also conducted a gun safety class for kindergartners at the town's elementary school.

-----

In 2003, Fleury wrote a letter of apology to residents after he discharged a loaded rifle during a firearms safety class. Selectmen had met in executive session to talk about the discharge but refused to release information about it. They said only the situation had been "handled." The chief pledged he would take additional safety steps to ensure such an incident did not recur.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/pelhams_police_chief_who_ran_w.html

This is their ad on YouTube for the shoot from 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSc8prfLF9k

WESTFIELD - A criminal investigation is underway in connection with the accidental shooting death of an 8-year-old boy during a firearms expo Sunday, Hampden District Attorney William M. Bennett said Tuesday.

Bennett said the probe will determine if it was legal, as well as reckless, for a child to possess or fire a machine gun.

State and city police, as well as federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, are involved in the investigation.

"At this point in the investigation I have found no lawful authority which allows an 8-year-old to possess or fire a machine gun," Bennett said. "Two, was it a reckless or wanton act to allow an 8-year-old to use a fully loaded automatic weapon?"

-----

The boy's father, Charles Bizilj, who was at the event, said he gave his son permission to fire the UZI, according to the Boston Globe.

Bizilj, a physician and medical director of the emergency department at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, Conn., was about to take a photo of his son when the accident occurred.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/investigators_continue_to_acci.html?category=Crime+category=Deaths+category=Westfield

[Selatius]

10. Why was the Uzi NOT CHECKED for bullets??? WTF kind of stupidity is that???

[RamboLiberal]

11. The boy was in the act of firing it

The recoil made the weapon climb till the muzzle was at his chin level. Instructor should've had control of the weapon and not let the boy handle it himself. The father was in the process of taking pictures.

Wonder if its his video the investigators are in possession of?

[Selatius]

12. If that is true, the instructor was grossly negligent. No way the boy should've been allowed to...

handle that weapon alone. Now, there's a dead body. A good rule of thumb is if you can't handle the recoil, don't pick it up.

An extreme example, but it demonstrates my point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yGI-xAwLzQ

[dysfunctional press]

16. do eight-year olds even qualify for the darwin's...?

:shrug:

shouldn't it be awarded to dad?

[RetroLounge]

17. Thank God for the 2nd Amendment!

Poor kid. This sucks. I have an 8 yr old.

I can't imagine what this parent feels like right now, or how you would ever recover from knowing you esentially killed your own kid by putting a fucking machine gun in his hand.

This is horrifyingly sad and amazingly stupid, all mixed up in one.

RL