This is the stupidest thing I have heard all day

Why would you let an 8 year old fire a 9mm full auto weapon? I know 30 years olds that can not handle the hand action.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/10/police_identify_6.html

Life sentences for all involved.

More kids die in bike accidents, car wrecks, swimming pools and falls each year. Do we put any one involved in those activities in jail also? I admit it was a stupid, irresponsible accident but it was an accident none the less.

That wasn't even an UZI. It was a Micro Uzi, much smaller, much more recoil, and a faster rate of fire, if I recall. It has been called about useless as far as SMG's go by experts like Kokalis.

I shot a MAC 10 once. That was about usless too. The full size UZI I shot was great, as was the MP5. Quite controllable, but the MAC 10 was more like "well, the first bullet might get somewhere near the target and the rest will be about 4-12 feet over it."

Anyway, yeah, life sentence for stoopidity.

Uzis are cool. I blasted a few hundred rounds through one last summer. It felt like the spring was causing more recoil than the bullet.

Why anyone would let a kid fire an automatic weapon other than a .22 is beyond me.

I don't know if I could keep living if I was the father. Irresponsible or not, he's never going to get over that. Ever.

I have mixed feelings about this because it is common for families around here to play at archery, shooting, BMX, motorcross, karting and all kinds of things that can go wrong in a fraction of a second. I learned to shoot at 5, my son at 7... at 8 he races a kart that does 60MPH, a BMX bike and plays football. None of these things are completely safe - so its hard for me to say that letting your kid fire a machine gun in a controlled environment isn't as safe as anything that you can be killed doing wrong. I feel very badly for the father who will have to live with the "If I only..." for the rest of his life.

Tanner is 5 and I have a .22 ready for him. I do not fault gunmanship, like many on this board I see firearms through a post apocolyptic light. I am not afraid of an 8 year old with a .22, but a 9mm full auto?

JmfnB wrote: Tanner is 5 and I have a .22 ready for him. I do not fault gunmanship, like many on this board I see firearms through a post apocolyptic light. I am not afraid of an 8 year old with a .22, but a 9mm full auto?

Like I said... mixed feelings. I let my kids do some things that are probably considered folly by many people who see any risk as a bad thing... In hindsight - obviously it wasn't a brilliant move but I kinda feel like if he was skateboarding or jumping a dirt-bike and broke his neck he wouldn't have got the same press as "OMG!! HE WAS SHOOTING A MACHINE GUN".

I can be certain that the kid skateboarding or jumping his bike did NOT just skateboard or jump the bike. Handing an 8yo a machine gun is like a kid riding the Xgames the first time his feet hit the pedals. An 8yo physically can not handle the mechanics of multiple recoil. The response will be to squeeze and hang on instead of let go.

This is sad, and it could have been prevented, but dumber E36 M3 has happened.

Personally, I fault both the father and the instructor. They both were present, and both failed to prepare the young man for the experience.

The bigger shocker to me is that Massachusetts had such an event.

All I'm saying is - stupid yes, criminal stupid... probably not. He will suffer that decision the rest of his life and that is about all the punishment I'd say he deserves.

Guns don't kill people, oh wait yes they do!

I am not against people having guns but most people that think they need one don't, some are not even mentally stable enough to have one in my opinion.

Tis a sad story. I know many an 8 year old I'd trust more than many 30 year olds I know.

An accident. An unfortunate accident.

therex wrote: The bigger shocker to me is that Massachusetts had such an event.

IIRC, it is the most gun friendly "Blue State"

I wasn't shooting till i was 12 and my first was a single shot .22.

"Very well trained"??? And what are the "other fun stuff" you can shoot that they couldn't print?

Sport Bike = Uzi

Minibike = .22

There is a difference, and a child shouldn't be allowed anywhere near anything that's fully automatic. I'm sorry, but an 8 year old isn't old enough to make the choice to shoot a gun like that, as its an inherently dangerous thing to do. I'm a gun lover, don't get me wrong, but leave weapons like that to the over 18 set. Give him a Ruger .22 rifle or the like.

I'm just worried what the anti gun lobby is going to do now, because of this idiot father and the idiot range where this happened. More laws coming?

Joey

I'm a gun nut, but even I had to ask myself "what the hell was the kid shooting that type of gun for"? Raised with guns in my house, have guns in my house, will always have guns in my house. Sad tragedy no doubt, and the parent will no doubt always feel responsible, but unfortunately it is a life sentence for a momentary lack of judgement.

IIRC, it is the most gun friendly "Blue State"

No way. New Hampshire all the way.

Massachusetts is terrible, you have to have a permit to buy a rifle, you have to renew this permit every 4 years (for 25 dollars) and you even need this if you inheirit a rifle, and all of this counts for air rifles too. You're restricted on where, when and how...hardly what I'd call "shall not be infringed."

If they're gun friendly, I'd hate to see someplace with strict rules...

PA has good class 3 dealers

JmfnB wrote: I can be certain that the kid skateboarding or jumping his bike did NOT just skateboard or jump the bike. Handing an 8yo a machine gun is like a kid riding the Xgames the first time his feet hit the pedals. An 8yo physically can not handle the mechanics of multiple recoil. The response will be to squeeze and hang on instead of let go.

Well-put.

It's more of a case of the overbearing parent saying "my kid's tough--he can handle it"--no different than a hockey dad.

The level of stupidity at work there is astonishing.

Some one once said that the smaller submachineguns or machinepistols were useful only for "a firefight in a phonebooth". I haven't heard the details on this - I wonder whether the stock was present and extended, and the arm fired from the shoulder or if, as I suspect, it was handheld. Some people who should know better love to see a novice surprised by recoil, noise, and movement.. I've fired assorted full autos professionally (on the taxpayers' dime) with no problems with recoil or climb - but I wasn't 8 years old.

therex wrote:

IIRC, it is the most gun friendly "Blue State"

No way. New Hampshire all the way. Massachusetts is terrible, you have to have a permit to buy a rifle, you have to renew this permit every 4 years (for 25 dollars) and you even need this if you inheirit a rifle, and all of this counts for air rifles too. You're restricted on where, when and how...hardly what I'd call "shall not be infringed." If they're gun friendly, I'd hate to see someplace with strict rules...

Vermont is solidly "Blue," and they're very gun friendly.