Boy, 8, Shoots Self With Uzi at Gun Show

Boy, 8, Shoots Self With Uzi at Gun Show

www.foxnews.com

WESTFIELD, Mass. — 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.

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 Vallierpratte said.

Police said the boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and called the death a "self-inflicted accidental shooting."

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More from the story....

As the boy fired the Uzi, "the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head," police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. The boy died at a hospital.

The boy's father and older brother were also there at the time, a gun club member and school official said. Francis Mitchell, a longtime member and trustee of the club, said he was told the boy's father was supporting his son from behind when the shooting happened.

Although the death appeared to be an accident, officials were investigating.

It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. The name of the instructor helping the boy was not released.

The event ran in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training

"It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site.

Messages left on answering machines for the club and the C.O.P. group were not returned Monday.



notice it says... all legal and fun, no permits required. Sad day.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

this truly is sad...an 8 year old should not be given use of a an advanced firearm no matter who is supervising him. truly a lapse in judgement by a father who will no doubt have to live with this guilt for the rest of his life.

reply to post by governmentsecrets


I cant even imagine the pain he must be going through.If one thing should be learned from this, it is that kids and gun shows shouldn't me mixed. or at the very least, kids and touching of guns shouldnt be mixed

Originally posted by governmentsecrets
truly a lapse in judgement by a father who will no doubt have to live with this guilt for the rest of his life.

Yes very sad, I can just imagine the boy begging him to have a go. Bad judgement by the father, this is very sad for him and his family. Can he forgive himself? can his family forgive him? I cannot imagine being in his shoes, must be hell.

I have a friend from my home town that was a fire-arms fanatic. He kept them everywhere in his home. His youngest boy found a 357 in his dresser drawer and proceeded to wheel it as if he was a police officer, this boy was 6 yr's old. His sister walked into the bedroom and the gun went off killing her, scared, the boy dropped the gun and it fired again going through the boys lower jaw and into his brain.
The father, my friend found both of them and was shattered. He had a small explosives business and about 4 yrs after loosing his kid's, his only kids, mother died at the daughter's child birth, he managed to blow him self up with a stick of TNT.
Really makes a guy wonder why anyone would want to put such young people at the risk of the inevitable outcome of such instances.
OP, this is a good thread for the faint of being to positive with the advent of learning how to shoot weapons, any weapon at such a very young age.

reply to post by bknapple32


..........why Daddy did not let his son fire off 1 round at a time...to get the feel of it...well I don't know..BUT, that instructor Should of known that those auto type guns are hard to handle for a rookie.....that is/was the real problem...Going full auto ...first time is nuts......sad for all involved...

being a gun nut i have to reply to this post. yes it is tragic and i believe children should be taught the rules on gun safety however you do not start them out with high powered arms(esp full auto which i assume it was). any one who has shot a full auto knows you cannot hold it down rambo style and it WILL jump. with a short barreled uzi and a kid i can clearly see what happened. children of that age should be taught gun safety with bb and pellet guns not military weapons. maybe his dad should have had him shoot an rpg instead?

Guns don't kill people... stupidity with guns kills people. And I dare say the materialistic adoration of guns mated with lack of character also kills people.

But, sadly, corrupt governments commanding sheep with guns also kill people...

Such complicated webs we weave...

This is a sad story.

First I'm a firearms advocate and believe that guns should not be kept from children, but rather children should be educated on how to use weapons and how to clear and check one when they find one. Otherwise they should be locked up in safe if you do have kids.

This particular incident shouldn't have happened. There is no reason for an 8 year old child to be firing a weapon on fully automatic. There are many instances of people firing fully automatic weapons and shooting themselves in the hand and what not and these are adults.

Firing a weapon on select fire is one thing but fully automatic is a totally different thing.

Repeal the 2nd amendment now. Before we all kill each other. The person who disagrees is wrong, no matter what argument they make. They will say how will we protect ourselves, or not all gun owners are idiots I disagree. My dad was a cop and my brothers and I played with his guns all the time it is a miracle no one was killed. I am forty now and would not let a neighbor of mine own guns if I had the choice. I find it unbelievable that we can own guns and not smoke pot in this country. CRAZY. Does any one know how many gun owners are killed by the weapon they own? Or the family members of that person.

Originally posted by Zepherian
Guns don't kill people... stupidity with guns kills people. And I dare say the materialistic adoration of guns mated with lack of character also kills people.

But, sadly, corrupt governments commanding sheep with guns also kill people...

Such complicated webs we weave...

You must be able to see how guns make it far easier for stupid people to kill other people than if they didn't have the guns? I think Eddie Izzard said it best when he say "shouting bang at someone doesn't have quite the same effect".

I just can't see the valid argument of letting a kid hold a lethal weapon. We won't let them *snip* and produce life until they're adults, but we'll give them the means to take it way before that?

Give me a break...

Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 10/27/2008 by maria_stardust]

*snip*

I am just going to ignore that comment, because frankly, this has nothing to do with being pro gun or not. Accidents happen, and in this case it happened to a young boy.

This is a sad story, and in my opinion, an eight year old should not be allowed to fire a fully automatic weapon for the very reason this accident occurred. A fully auto weapon has the ability to take on a life of its own, and should only be handled by people with the strength to handle the weapon appropriately.

As others have said, the people involved learned a very hard lesson, and I am fairly sure this will not happen again in their presence.

Mod Edit: Removed offensive off-topic quote.

[edit on 10/27/2008 by maria_stardust]

reply to post by red 5


*snip* I have guns, my kids have no idea i do or where they are.

Also my dad was a DEA and then intellegance agent who had guns around and taught me sternly to never touch them. OBTW taught me how to tell if a gun was loaded. If your dad left loaded weapons laying around talk to your dad not me.

I'm tired of idiots ruling the world.

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Mod Note: Courtesy Is Mandatory – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 10/27/2008 by maria_stardust]

reply to post by red 5


OBTW, this story is SAD, Dad cleary never fired full auto and seller did'nt bother to tell. Should be an example of ignorance not rights taken away.

reply to post by xmaddness


Agreed on all counts. An automatic weapon is not something that an 8 year old should be firing under any circumstances. The recoil of such a weapon can surprise an adult if they aren't careful, much less a child.

Unfortunately, this stupid mistake ended up costing someone their life. Of course, the usual suspects will say that its evidence that guns should be banned, but I'd argue that its the equivalent of teaching your kid how to drive with an F-1 car or buying them a Suzuki Hayabusa for their 16th birthday. You're asking for an awful lot of trouble.

First of all, let me say my heart goes out for the father. No one should ever have to bury their children; it's simply not right.

This has nothing really to do with gun control (other than the obvious pun, which decorum prevents me here from using intentionally) and everything to do with gun safety. Firearms are indeed dangerous, and should be treated with due respect. I wouldn't have let my son shoot an Uzi; I won't let him handle my shotguns yet, and he's 14 and pretty strong. He is restricted to guns he can handle until he learns enough self-discipline to respect the power he's holding.

I also won't let him handle a chainsaw, my powerful angle grinder/cutter, or the Saws-all. He can use the power drill, the drill press, and under my direct supervision, the router, table saw, welder, and machine shop. These tools, while dangerous, are within his realm of being able to handle; the others are not and may kick with more power than he would expect, causing injury.

It is paramount to any parent who wishes to avoid this type of thing that they educate first themselves, and then their children, on the equipment they wish to use. It is also paramount to safety that before someone is allowed to use a tool, any tool, including a gun, they be physically able to handle it safely.

I think the big problem with guns is the number of people who have become so militant and pro-gun that they fail to recognize that this tool is powerful and designed specifically to be deadly. I see it all the time on this site alone; some people tend to see a gun as a guarantee of survival in a fight, or perhaps as an adult 'toy'. It is neither. It is a device, a tool, designed to cause severe, hopefully lethal, damage to something or someone. If used correctly, it can save lives and deter crime; if used improperly it can kill the innocent. A chainsaw used properly can harvest enough firewood to heat a home during the winter months or clear land for building; if used improperly, it can remove a leg, an arm, or a head just as easily.

To those who will decry this as somehow 'proof' that guns should be outlawed, allow me to say this: it takes two to tango. The reason that some people take gun safety for granted is that they are, in their own mind, fighting against those who would outlaw them outright for no reason other than their fear of them. You are not offering a solution; you are being part of the problem. Deny all you want, but a few drops of this boy's life-blood is on your hands as well. Why not, instead of trying to blame an inanimate object for your fears, devote your voice to preaching for gun safety? That way, perhaps we could deter crime and afford self-protection without the senseless accidents that happen all too often over the natural reaction to a perceived threat.

Speaking of whom :
reply to post by C.C.Benjamin
*snip*

Did I miss something? I didn't hear anyone mention Enzyte...

I just can't see the valid argument of letting a kid hold a lethal weapon. We won't let them *snip* and produce life until they're adults, but we'll give them the means to take it way before that?

You got me on this one. I have to agree... kids and high-powered weaponry simply do not mix well.

TheRedneck

Mod Edit: Removed offensive off-topic quote and edited profanity from second quote.


[edit on 10/27/2008 by maria_stardust]

C.C.Benjamin: Oh, I see it and agree with you. I don't see any valid reason for a minor to even be able to even touch a gun, let alone fire an uzi. Guns are just tools, neutral, but people need realise that they are very specialized tools which really only do one thing, and that is potentially kill living organisms. Which sometimes has to happen, but far more rarely than it actually does happen.

But the way the world is going, the idea of an unarmed population and an armed corrupt government is not a valid alternative, sadly for me, as I've been antigun most of my life...



[edit on 27-10-2008 by Zepherian]