Needless Tragedy

This piece on CNN just astounded me. Since when does it make sense to give an 8 year old a damn loaded Uzi to shoot? Everybody involved, the 'certified' instructor, parent(s), gun club owner, whoever, needs some serious punishment. The heights to which human stupidity rise is just amazing. Anyone with any experience with automatic weapons should be aware of the tendency for the weapon to run up and even a big guy like me, knowing what to expect, was surprised at the force the weapons exerts when I qualified with one in the Navy. Stupid, stupid.

WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (AP) — An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.
An 8-year-old shot and killed himself with an Uzi submachine gun like the weapon shown here.

The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club, Police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said.

The boy was with a certified instructor and “was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury,” a police statement said. Police called it a “self-inflicted accidental shooting.”

The victim was taken to Baystate Medical Center where he died. His name was not released.

Although the death appears to be an accident, police and the Hampden district attorney’s office were investigating, officials said.

The club said on its Web site that the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P. Firearms and Training, is “all legal and fun.” People will be allowed to fire weapons at vehicles, pumpkins and other targets, it said.