A 9 year old girl was taken to a gun range and ended up killing her instructor when he let her go full automatic with an Uzi. How old is the right age to go to a gun range?
Maybe 12, but it depends on the maturity level of the kid and how well they listen to instructions (I'd take my 13-year old cousin over my 29-year old brother).
In any case, there's no reason to practice with an Uzi, especially for a child who obviously wasn't strong enough to control it.
I know plenty of people that learned to use a gun at a young age, as well as taught there own children at around the same age. The fact these parents gave the kid a freaking Uzi is the problem. Stoopid parents.
It's not the age of the child that is the problem. The instructor was obviously irresponsible. I've lived many places (TX, AZ, WV) where children take gun lessons from certified instructors with legitimate safety practices. I've never heard of kids taking uzi lessons, so I'm guessing this wasn't an official or reputable class.
Unfortunately, this was the first news article I saw this morning after I woke up. I can't believe it.
The 9-yr old and her parents were on vacation going through Arizona. They saw the gun-range, thought it would be fun. Evidently, the range is very legal and very secure.
The girl had just shot one round as the UZI can be set to one shot only or full automatic. Now, it's not known whether the instructor purposely set it to full automatic or if it was an accident.
He told her to go "all out" or something like that and she lost her grip and it went full automatic straight at the instructors head.
First. My heart breaks for this man's family. According to locals, he was a good guy w/ a family and good instructor.
Second. My heart breaks for the family who made the foolish decision of thinking it would be cute getting their daughter shooting an UZI on film and uploading it to the internet (i'm assuming..why else would you stop at an automatic gun range and film your daughter shooting a gun...oops i mean UZI).
This little girl's life is FOREVER CHANGED. She just blew off a man's head by accident. I am so very sorry for the mental anguish that girl will go through. I can only hope her parents make better decisions for her and get her someone trustworthy and respected specialist to talk w/ her.
Idiot parents is an understatement. A freaking Uzi? Yes because every American needs to learn how to use this to get by in our day to day life. This is where people get pissed off about gun use!!!
That poor little girl. Parents are idiots, why didn't they just give her the keys to the car and tell her to put the pedal to the metal? She'll be traumatized for life knowing she killed someone, even if it was an accident.
Never. So pleased I live in a country with strict gun laws. Crime & violence still exist of course, in other ways, but having no guns around lessens my fear a hell of a lot!
This was bound to happen. As if all the previous tragedies weren't enough, now will the NRA get a brain finally and reconsider the need to misconstrue the 2nd amendment for the benefit of ongoing profits and maybe - Just Maybe - place more value on human life?
I handled my first gun when I was 55 - went to the range with Mr. B. My first 3 shots went straight through the ceiling (it was a 38). If I couldn't handle a 38 the first time as an adult, how the hell can you expect a 9 year old to handle an Uzi? We go to the range 3-4 times a year and there's no way I'd try an Uzi - I KNOW I can't handle it.
This isn't a 2nd amendment issue - it's a stupidity issue. I'll bet the parents are equally irresponsible in other ways.
The first problem is that no one needs an Uzi unless you are in the military. You probably don't even need those guns for law enforcement. Uzis should be made and sold only to the military.
If you can't hunt animals without an automatic weapon, that ain't a sport.
Surely the instructor could have said sorry but that really is not an appropriate weapon for a nine year old? There are grown men who probably can't handle that weapon on first try.
I am a gun owner and strong 2nd amendment supporter but this is just bat-sh*t crazy. I think if parents want their kids to grow up comfortable around firearms and learn to handle them responsibly, you start them out at maybe age 13 with a air gun or pellet gun and go from there. A 9 year old and Uzi? It doesn't take Nostradamus to predict that nothing good can result from that.
Here in Washington state we are facing two gun measures on the ballot this November. I will be in a secure location for all of November while the melee commences. Our airwaves have seen the first strike of ads with hours more to follow.
Pray. Any line on cheap housing in the south Pacific? Maybe an island with no tv?
I've never even seen a gun in real life, but I get that some families are into it for fun. However, I don't consider automatic weapons the same as a regular gun. This place was licensed and if its true the instructor told her to go fully auto, he should have been ready to spot her.
Since her parents are all about respecting firepower early on, will they be getting her some BBC for her 10th birthday?
If she's gonna learn, she should learn young, with something that has some kick to it. Getting her a white guy would be like teaching her on a snubnose .38. Pfft. Not for our lil princess.
Father was ww2vet and pow during same. We never went anywhere near guns ever. I didnt even know u cld own one, lol. A f*cking uzi! Anyone who okayed this and condoned is guilty. Whats the rush?! Shes 9! Ya got a real brain drain going on there.
An UZI on full automatic in the hands of a nine year old girl. What a great idea - not. She could have taken out a lot more people.
Not to mention, kids that young don't have any sense of mortality, or danger. Their brains and sense of morality is not fully developed. She could have just as easily pointed it at someone as a joke - and taken them out that way too.
I support the second amendment and private gun ownership, even public carry/conceal permits (I think it would definitely cut down on school massacres, for example, if teachers were armed) ... but NOBODY needs to own or fire a full-automatic assault rifle.
Please know that I mean no disrespect, but... I don't understand this mentality. Why, in 2014, in the developed world, would you want or need to hunt? Why would a family think visiting a gun range would be "fun"? Why would anyone (not in law enforcement or the military) need to learn to shoot a gun? Why would you let a child or young adolescent (who cannot legally drink, smoke, drive or have sex) handle a gun?
Being outside of the US I obviously have a much different view regarding owning a gun. From what is presented to us, it sounds like people want to own guns to protect themselves from other humans. Which means that people on both "sides" are buying guns for the purpose of shooting another human being. And so many of you don't see the problem with that.
This story is a sad example of the ongoing stupidity about guns in America. That poor girl probably wanted to stop for an ice cream. I mean who does that? Idiot parents.
@tina. re animals & sport, do you think animals have their choice of weaponry? The parents & the instructor were idiots. It must have been traumatic for the little girl , images she will never forget. She'll be in therapy for a very long time. The parents probably recorded it to post online / Facebook. A split second that changed the lives of so many people forever. I feel so sad for the instructors family & friends. I feel devastated for the young girl. I also really dislike the parents, much anger. Rant over, but I could go on.
So... what if the next gun tragedy in the states was a 3, 4, 5, 6 yo who got a hold of the gun in the house and shot their....
Oh wait... that's already been done
You mean to suggest, that 1st world countries on this planet, that don't have laws stating -- all have a right to bear arms (incl. Dogs, cats, clowns, bears) -- that those countries (who don't have gun tragedies every day/week/month) -- somehow have it wrong?
Well Shit!! Glad I live in those countries! Don't have to worry about some pissed off pussy, hound dog mutt or backwater grizzly blowing my head off because of 6pm traffic road rage. Oh yeah, and at least we're alive
As an Australian usually any discussion I enter into with Americans about guns serves as the proverbial red rag. So I won't venture into that territory. However.... an Uzi? WTF? When we lived in the bush my dad had rifles to kill pests (rabbits, roos and foxes). He taught me to shoot as a kid, but with an air rifle, at targets. All firearms were kept locked up, separately to ammunition. Here, we seem to travel along pretty well with people NOT being shot and killed, having a dearth of school shootings and other fatal rampages. This is effing tragic. Good one mum and dad! (And sympathy to family of deceased), but shouldn't the instructor have shown more sense and not let her have access to an Uzi?
I don't have a problem with teaching a kid to shoot and handle a gun safely, but to allow a 9 year old to shoot a gun on full auto is the height of insanity. Those girl's parents should at the very least have their heads examined.
@susanb I would have to go do some research to confirm but at the muzzle a .38 and 9mm parabellum(what the Uzi is generally chambered for) have about same energy.
Everyone this range was advertized like a thrill ride. Think about it in those terms not as weapons training.
The video was recorded by the family and released by the sheriff.
@Bprofane I think you have the ages about right.
This was an unfortunate accident. One that the instructor has a large part in creating. SOP for that range when children fire. Instructor on the same side as the firearm; hand on the shooters shoulder so if necessary he can control the weapon. This instructor was on the shooters left and had his hand on her back. Most shoulder fired weapons when fired full auto will climb up and to the left! I hate to say it but the instructors action look in the aftermath almost suicidal.
This should have been a safe endeavour. It can be made safer by changes to the firing station.
This should not be turned into a discussion for or against gun control. It should be a discussion of appropriate range safety procedures.
For some reason when I think of this family tootling along the desert road on vacation, then they see the shooting range and decide t go in ... it reminds me of a scene in this hilarious road movie, and I can't for the life of me remember the title, but it's about this mysterious millionaire who gathers several people in a hotel room and sends them on a madcap cross-country adventure to claim a treasure... .I think it was Jon Lovitz who was one of the people, he's on vacation with his wife and kids and doesn't tell them about the treasure, while at the same time trying to win it ... they're tootling along a desert road and his daughter sees a sign for the Barbie Museum and starts whining that she wants to go, so they finally relent and go ... except it's not Barbie DOLL it's KLAUS Barbie, it's run by neo-Nazis and the family is Jewish. I think he ends up accidentally stealing Hitler's car ... It was VERY funny.
Meme: If you don't live in America, then please, don't worry about our gun laws. Surely whatever country you live in has its own problems you can fret over.
children probably shouldn't shoot anything but rilfes below the age of 18. What I would like to see happen is a massive lawsuit that makes this regulation.
How stupid are people?
ReplyDeleteThank you for stating the obvious and the laugh! :))))
DeleteObviously not 9...
ReplyDeleteI would never encourage this.
ReplyDelete@Anothergrayhare, the answer to that is infinite.
ReplyDeleteNo 9-year-old should not be given a gun, let alone an Uzi! That child will be scared for life. Just sad.
ReplyDeleteThis story is tragic. They've shown video clips this morning on the news of the seconds leading up to the shooting.
ReplyDeleteMaybe 12, but it depends on the maturity level of the kid and how well they listen to instructions (I'd take my 13-year old cousin over my 29-year old brother).
ReplyDeleteIn any case, there's no reason to practice with an Uzi, especially for a child who obviously wasn't strong enough to control it.
I started shooting lessons at 8. (my father was military)
ReplyDeleteBut NOT with an automatic.
I got my first shotgun at 8, & I have no problem with responsible teaching practices, but a freaking UZI?
DeleteThese people scare the crap out of me, brainless
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world would 9 year old need to learn how to use an Uzi? Who would sign their kid up for that? People are idiots.
ReplyDeleteShitty instructor, feel no sympathy for him. I do feel bad for the girl though.
ReplyDeleteThe parents are assholes.
I know plenty of people that learned to use a gun at a young age, as well as taught there own children at around the same age. The fact these parents gave the kid a freaking Uzi is the problem. Stoopid parents.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the age of the child that is the problem. The instructor was obviously irresponsible. I've lived many places (TX, AZ, WV) where children take gun lessons from certified instructors with legitimate safety practices. I've never heard of kids taking uzi lessons, so I'm guessing this wasn't an official or reputable class.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this was the first news article I saw this morning after I woke up. I can't believe it.
ReplyDeleteThe 9-yr old and her parents were on vacation going through Arizona. They saw the gun-range, thought it would be fun. Evidently, the range is very legal and very secure.
The girl had just shot one round as the UZI can be set to one shot only or full automatic. Now, it's not known whether the instructor purposely set it to full automatic or if it was an accident.
He told her to go "all out" or something like that and she lost her grip and it went full automatic straight at the instructors head.
First. My heart breaks for this man's family. According to locals, he was a good guy w/ a family and good instructor.
Second. My heart breaks for the family who made the foolish decision of thinking it would be cute getting their daughter shooting an UZI on film and uploading it to the internet (i'm assuming..why else would you stop at an automatic gun range and film your daughter shooting a gun...oops i mean UZI).
This little girl's life is FOREVER CHANGED. She just blew off a man's head by accident. I am so very sorry for the mental anguish that girl will go through. I can only hope her parents make better decisions for her and get her someone trustworthy and respected specialist to talk w/ her.
Idiot parents is an understatement. A freaking Uzi? Yes because every American needs to learn how to use this to get by in our day to day life. This is where people get pissed off about gun use!!!
ReplyDeleteThat poor little girl. Parents are idiots, why didn't they just give her the keys to the car and tell her to put the pedal to the metal? She'll be traumatized for life knowing she killed someone, even if it was an accident.
ReplyDeleteNever. So pleased I live in a country with strict gun laws. Crime & violence still exist of course, in other ways, but having no guns around lessens my fear a hell of a lot!
ReplyDelete427.
ReplyDeleteOf course if the instructor had had a gun he could have defended himself.
ReplyDeleteOuch!!
DeleteUpfront - I apologize to my American "cousins
ReplyDeleteBUT
Americans and their love of guns
This was bound to happen. As if all the previous tragedies weren't enough, now will the NRA get a brain finally and reconsider the need to misconstrue the 2nd amendment for the benefit of ongoing profits and maybe - Just Maybe - place more value on human life?
@meme. Ha ha ha ha. The NRA see reason. That's a funny one.
DeleteNever! Her adult instructor or her parents were enough idiot to think that a 9 years old kid was enough "adult" to use gun or learn to use Uzi
ReplyDeleteI handled my first gun when I was 55 - went to the range with Mr. B. My first 3 shots went straight through the ceiling (it was a 38). If I couldn't handle a 38 the first time as an adult, how the hell can you expect a 9 year old to handle an Uzi? We go to the range 3-4 times a year and there's no way I'd try an Uzi - I KNOW I can't handle it.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a 2nd amendment issue - it's a stupidity issue. I'll bet the parents are equally irresponsible in other ways.
The first problem is that no one needs an Uzi unless you are in the military. You probably don't even need those guns for law enforcement. Uzis should be made and sold only to the military.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't hunt animals without an automatic weapon, that ain't a sport.
Just like rocket launchers really are not for personal use.
ReplyDeleteExcept in Russia. . Backyard bbqs.. shooting down random 747s.
DeleteSurely the instructor could have said sorry but that really is not an appropriate weapon for a nine year old? There are grown men who probably can't handle that weapon on first try.
ReplyDeleteI am a gun owner and strong 2nd amendment supporter but this is just bat-sh*t crazy. I think if parents want their kids to grow up comfortable around firearms and learn to handle them responsibly, you start them out at maybe age 13 with a air gun or pellet gun and go from there. A 9 year old and Uzi? It doesn't take Nostradamus to predict that nothing good can result from that.
ReplyDeleteAn Uzi? Why not a bazooka, or a stinger, or the nuclear Big Red Button?
ReplyDeleteA gun can be OK to handle at 9, or a few years older, but some kind of machine gun is too much even for a random 18er.
Seriously I'm not sure what her parents or the instructor was thinking handing her an UZI
ReplyDeleteThere should for sure be an age limit on weapons like that - at least 18
I feel badly for her - she is going to be scarred for life
Please Enty: do NOT unleash the gun nuts.
ReplyDeleteHere in Washington state we are facing two gun measures on the ballot this November. I will be in a secure location for all of November while the melee commences. Our airwaves have seen the first strike of ads with hours more to follow.
Pray. Any line on cheap housing in the south Pacific? Maybe an island with no tv?
Well I shot my first uzi at 7 but I was in front of someone. I went to a gun range at 10 but by then I wasn't a rookie. .
ReplyDeleteYou can never be too young.
ReplyDeletenora nader ..Bravo darling. So eloquently said.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for the girl.
ReplyDeleteMy family has guns. We've always had guns. I have a gun. Well, a rifle (.306).
Here in Oregon, we start young. Usually, with little .22's or something like that. The UZI is bewildering to me.
I've never even seen a gun in real life, but I get that some families are into it for fun. However, I don't consider automatic weapons the same as a regular gun. This place was licensed and if its true the instructor told her to go fully auto, he should have been ready to spot her.
ReplyDeleteSince her parents are all about respecting firepower early on, will they be getting her some BBC for her 10th birthday?
ReplyDeleteIf she's gonna learn, she should learn young, with something that has some kick to it. Getting her a white guy would be like teaching her on a snubnose .38. Pfft. Not for our lil princess.
Father was ww2vet and pow during same. We never went anywhere near guns ever. I didnt even know u cld own one, lol. A f*cking uzi! Anyone who okayed this and condoned is guilty. Whats the rush?! Shes 9! Ya got a real brain drain going on there.
ReplyDeleteGuns don't kill people, nine year old girls kill people. - the NRA
ReplyDeleteAn UZI on full automatic in the hands of a nine year old girl. What a great idea - not. She could have taken out a lot more people.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, kids that young don't have any sense of mortality, or danger. Their brains and sense of morality is not fully developed. She could have just as easily pointed it at someone as a joke - and taken them out that way too.
I support the second amendment and private gun ownership, even public carry/conceal permits (I think it would definitely cut down on school massacres, for example, if teachers were armed) ... but NOBODY needs to own or fire a full-automatic assault rifle.
Well put, Cherry Pie.
ReplyDeletePlease know that I mean no disrespect, but... I don't understand this mentality. Why, in 2014, in the developed world, would you want or need to hunt? Why would a family think visiting a gun range would be "fun"? Why would anyone (not in law enforcement or the military) need to learn to shoot a gun? Why would you let a child or young adolescent (who cannot legally drink, smoke, drive or have sex) handle a gun?
ReplyDeleteI saw something about this on Twitter and I thought it was a joke! This is so sad.
ReplyDeleteBeing outside of the US I obviously have a much different view regarding owning a gun. From what is presented to us, it sounds like people want to own guns to protect themselves from other humans. Which means that people on both "sides" are buying guns for the purpose of shooting another human being. And so many of you don't see the problem with that.
ReplyDeleteWho in their right mind would let a child anywhere NEAR a gun?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy 14 yo learned to shoot last year when he was in the Scouts.
ReplyDeleteWe're gun owners. But I'm for fucking responsible ownership. An Uzi? I wouldn't touch that unless I was military!
Too bad Ted Nugent wasn't the instructor.
ReplyDeleteThis story is a sad example of the ongoing stupidity about guns in America. That poor girl probably wanted to stop for an ice cream. I mean who does that? Idiot parents.
I know it's wrong MinPin but the Nugent remark made me chuckle. I would never wish anyone hurt by guns either.
DeleteWhy does a 9 year old need to know how to fire an Uzi?
ReplyDelete@tina. re animals & sport, do you think animals have their choice of weaponry?
ReplyDeleteThe parents & the instructor were idiots.
It must have been traumatic for the little girl , images she will never forget. She'll be in therapy for a very long time.
The parents probably recorded it to post online
/ Facebook.
A split second that changed the lives of so many people forever.
I feel so sad for the instructors family & friends.
I feel devastated for the young girl.
I also really dislike the parents, much anger.
Rant over, but I could go on.
@Skippy: Don't feel bad for the instructor. If he was good at his job, he would be alive.
ReplyDeleteSmall-caliber bolt-action rifle: 6-8, depending on the maturity of the kid, if closely supervised.
ReplyDeleteSemi-auto rifles, pistols, revolvers and shotguns: 12-14, supervised, with limited ammo loaded.
Full-auto weapons: 16-never, depending on physical and emotional maturity.
So... what if the next gun tragedy in the states was a 3, 4, 5, 6 yo who got a hold of the gun in the house and shot their....
ReplyDeleteOh wait... that's already been done
You mean to suggest, that 1st world countries on this planet, that don't have laws stating -- all have a right to bear arms (incl. Dogs, cats, clowns, bears) -- that those countries (who don't have gun tragedies every day/week/month) -- somehow have it wrong?
Well Shit!! Glad I live in those countries! Don't have to worry about some pissed off pussy, hound dog mutt or backwater grizzly blowing my head off because of 6pm traffic road rage. Oh yeah, and at least we're alive
As an Australian usually any discussion I enter into with Americans about guns serves as the proverbial red rag. So I won't venture into that territory. However.... an Uzi? WTF?
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in the bush my dad had rifles to kill pests (rabbits, roos and foxes). He taught me to shoot as a kid, but with an air rifle, at targets. All firearms were kept locked up, separately to ammunition. Here, we seem to travel along pretty well with people NOT being shot and killed, having a dearth of school shootings and other fatal rampages. This is effing tragic. Good one mum and dad! (And sympathy to family of deceased), but shouldn't the instructor have shown more sense and not let her have access to an Uzi?
I don't have a problem with teaching a kid to shoot and handle a gun safely, but to allow a 9 year old to shoot a gun on full auto is the height of insanity. Those girl's parents should at the very least have their heads examined.
ReplyDelete@susanb I would have to go do some research to confirm but at the muzzle a .38 and 9mm parabellum(what the Uzi is generally chambered for) have about same energy.
ReplyDeleteEveryone this range was advertized like a thrill ride. Think about it in those terms not as weapons training.
The video was recorded by the family and released by the sheriff.
@Bprofane I think you have the ages about right.
This was an unfortunate accident. One that the instructor has a large part in creating. SOP for that range when children fire. Instructor on the same side as the firearm; hand on the shooters shoulder so if necessary he can control the weapon. This instructor was on the shooters left and had his hand on her back. Most shoulder fired weapons when fired full auto will climb up and to the left! I hate to say it but the instructors action look in the aftermath almost suicidal.
This should have been a safe endeavour. It can be made safer by changes to the firing station.
This should not be turned into a discussion for or against gun control. It should be a discussion of appropriate range safety procedures.
I foam at the mouth whenever Ted Nugent's name is mentioned.
ReplyDeleteHe's a horrible HORRIBLE person. Just visit his facebook page and see why.
He brags about killing animals. He loves to shoot any homeless cats that show up on his property, for instance.
Just - a pig of a human being.
And it has nothing to do with his gun ownership. He's a sadist.
For some reason when I think of this family tootling along the desert road on vacation, then they see the shooting range and decide t go in ... it reminds me of a scene in this hilarious road movie, and I can't for the life of me remember the title, but it's about this mysterious millionaire who gathers several people in a hotel room and sends them on a madcap cross-country adventure to claim a treasure... .I think it was Jon Lovitz who was one of the people, he's on vacation with his wife and kids and doesn't tell them about the treasure, while at the same time trying to win it ... they're tootling along a desert road and his daughter sees a sign for the Barbie Museum and starts whining that she wants to go, so they finally relent and go ... except it's not Barbie DOLL it's KLAUS Barbie, it's run by neo-Nazis and the family is Jewish. I think he ends up accidentally stealing Hitler's car ... It was VERY funny.
ReplyDeleteBut I digress...
Found it!
ReplyDeleteIt's called Rat Race
Meme: If you don't live in America, then please, don't worry about our gun laws. Surely whatever country you live in has its own problems you can fret over.
ReplyDeleteGotta say, Australia may not be perfect, but I am glad we don't have that many gun - related incidents. Such a tragedy.
ReplyDeletechildren probably shouldn't shoot anything but rilfes below the age of 18. What I would like to see happen is a massive lawsuit that makes this regulation.
ReplyDelete