seriously this is just mind boggling on so many levels




Oct 27, 2008 11:45 am US/Pacific
Mass. Boy Accidentally Kills Himself With Uzi
CBS News Interactive: Guns In America
WESTFIELD, Mass. (CBS) ¯ An 8-year-old boy has died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.

CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston reported that Westfield police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn. lost control of the weapon. The incident occured as he was firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club.

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. They called it a "self-inflicted accidental shooting."

He was conscious and lying on the ground with a wound to the right side of his head when police and emergency medical technicians arrived, according to the Springfield Republican.

Christopher was rushed to an area hospital, where he died.

Police said the boy's father was at the gun fair and accompanied his son in the ambulance, but it wasn't clear if he was at the firing range with Christopher at the time of the accident. Police didn't give the father's name.

Although the death appears to be an accident, Hampden District Attorney William Bennett declined to comment until the investigation was complete.

"We are going to review all the circumstance regarding what happened, who was involved, what authorities they may or may not have had, who was supervising," Bennett said.

The private club has not commented yet.

According to its Web site, the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training, is "all legal and fun."

The site said people are allowed to fire weapons "full auto rock 'n' roll" at vehicles, pumpkins and "other stuff we can't print here."

According to a flyer for the event, there was no age limit "or licenses required to shoot machine guns, handguns, rifles, or shotguns".

Under Massachusetts gun laws, children can fire weapons at a gun club - provided they are under the direction of a licensed instructor, and under parental supervision.

Those conditions were met in this case, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said Monday.

The Westfield Sportsman's Club is a private club founded in 1949 and touts itself as an organization that promotes "the interest of legal sport with rod, gun, and bow and arrow, both directly and through training."

It has eight firing ranges as well as archery and fishing facilities located on 375 acres in Westfield, about 100 miles west of Boston.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Yeah, that happened in my neck of the woods. No age limit to shoot an Uzi -- obviously a huge, sad error in judgment that these people will have to live with.

<<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. They called it a "self-inflicted accidental shooting.">>

I don't understand what this means
does this mean that the gun went OFF and he actually SHOT himself?

or that the heft and mass of the uzi itself caused injury to his head?

what does it mean by " back and towards his head"?

does it mean the back of the head where his brain is?

I don't understand what happened here.

laV--
I'm not sure either, exactly how it happened, but it's incredibly sad. Here in Massachusetts it's really big news, and the legislature is all over it, getting ready to pass new legislation so that this can't happen again.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Any weapon that fires a metallic cartridge has its muzzle rise upwards when fired..This is the results of physics..It happens with all weapons regardless of whether it is a handgun, rifle, shotgun, sub-machine gun, machine gun, canon..It happens regardless of the caliber of the weapon being fired..The larger the weapon's bore, the greater the muzzle rise..

The Uzi is considered a sub-machine gun..It has the ability to shoot a single round with a single pull of the trigger, three shot bursts with a single pull of the trigger, & the capability to empty the entire magazine of cartridges with a single pull of the trigger..

When the military, or a police force, is teaching someone to accurately & safely fire this type of weapon they ALWAYS warn the shooter to be wary of muzzle rise..If not controlled by the shooter, the muzzle of a sub-machine gun with rise 6-10" (sometimes further) when firing 3-shot bursts..If not controlled by the shooter, the muzzle of a sub-machine gun fired on full auto for a full magazine of rounds will rise past the 90 degree vertical mark & start to move towards the shooter's face & upper body..

From what I understand, the child pulled the trigger on a fully automatic weapon, the muzzle rose uncontrolled by either the child or the instructor until a bullet entered the side of the child's head because muzzle rise had by this time brought the muzzle of the Uzi into close proximity to the boy's head..

Most people have only experienced sub-machine guns while watching Hollywood entertainment..In the movies muzzle rise while shooting a sub-machine gun is usually edited out..Also, they are shooting blanks, which do not have the same effect as to muzzle rise as does shooting cartridges containing actual bullets..

The harsh reality is that 8-year old boys do not have the musculature to comfortably hold an EMPTY 9mm Uzi sub-machine gun..An 8-year old certainly cannot handle a 9mm Uzi sub-machine gun while it is being fired on 3-shot burst mode or full auto mode..This is why a certified instructor & the child's father were both standing right next to him while he was attempting to shoot the Uzi..The instructor should never have allowed an 8-year old child to have possession of a loaded 9mm Uzi sub-machine gun without the instructors hands EVER leaving the weapon..If the intent was for the child to experience the thrill of shooting a fully automatic weapon, then an adult should have been standing directly behind the child with his or her hands on the Uzi at ALL times so that the child NEVER had possession by themselves of a loaded, fully automatic weapon at ANY time..Period..

My take on this incident is that the father gave in to his son's romanticized desires to shoot the Uzi..Until a person witnesses the destructive power or a metallic cartridge weapon first hand they usually have a romanticized view of guns..

The very FIRST thing that I was ever allowed to shoot at when I was a young child was a 1-gallon paint can filled with water with the lid on tight..I shot at it with a .22 caliber rifle that my father was also holding tightly (so that there was NO possibility of an accident)..The .22 caliber bullet entered the paint can punching a 1/4" hole in the can; & exited the paint can tearing a 3" diameter jagged hole out the opposite side..That this was due mostly to the hydraulic action of the water was not apparent to my 10-year old mind..My father & his friend did this to impress on my young mind that guns were not toys, & that I was NEVER to touch one without permission, regardless of the circumstances..

Several reports that I have read on the internet stated that it was the father that was the instructor..If this is so I cannot imagine anything worse than knowing that you were fully responsible for allowing your son to shoot himself in the head with a loaded fully automatic weapon that he had NO business touching..

In my opinion 8-year old children should NEVER be allowed to touch or shoot any weapon whose express purpose is to kill other human beings..Such weapons are the province of adults, at least in the United States..This child was not living in a war-torn country where 8-year old children by necessity have to learn to shoot adult weapons & kill human beings as a means of survival..

This tragedy was the result of a romantic indulgence on the part of the father towards his son that he will regret for the remainder of his life..

Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2008 04:57PM by baltochef.

this is sad
i wonder how people live with themselves afterwards

i'm going to send everyone involved my prayers for healing



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2008 12:19AM by la_veronique.