Originally Posted By Mr X <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/10/27/boy.shoots.himself.ap/index.html" target="_blank">http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US...dex.html</a> What a horrible, tragic story! Poor kid. I just felt awful reading it. Okay, I understand guns being popular and all of that etc...but come on. There are no safety rules about an eight year old handling a freakin UZI!!?? Come on! I'm pretty sure they ban eight year olds from driving most go-carts, don't they? This is just sad, and shouldn't have happened (sorry, but as a parent myself I wouldn't allow my extremely young child to handle a gun anyway...isn't there SOME sort of line that has been crossed here!?).
Originally Posted By mele Stuff like this just pisses me off. That kid had no business firing that gun in the first place. His parent(s) made a bad choice and now they are suffering the consequences. It doesn't seem necessary to go after them legally but the sports club and inspector should be dealt with.
Originally Posted By Mr X I'm not sure I'd even say that, UNLESS there are already laws in place. There really should be though. I mean, how young is "too young" anyway!? I can sort of see the flip side of the argument here, because I remember in Boy Scouts we had a shooting range and it was a lot of fun..and I think it's okay at a CERTAIN age. But an Uzi in the hands of an eight year old!? Some lines need to be drawn SOMEWHERE, shouldn't they? Anyway, what a sad story. Poor kid.
Originally Posted By Mr X I also think an Uzi is a pretty different story from the regular old rifles we "played with" when I was a kid (I think I was at least 10 at the time though).
Originally Posted By mickeymeg I may be on my own here, but I really can't see any reason that anyone regardless of age should be shooting an Uzi for fun. This is not your normal target shooting gun as far as I am aware. Lets just hope something good comes of this and they pass some new laws about shooting powerful and deadly weapons before anyone else gets hurt.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice ^^I agree, mickeymeg... I've been shooting rifles and hard-kicking pistols since I was 4 and I keep a loaded .38 in my nightstand, but these military-style weapons don't need to be in the hands of everyday citizens. It's ridiculous.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I may be on my own here, but I really can't see any reason that anyone regardless of age should be shooting an Uzi for fun.*** I agree with Alice...you're definitely not on your own here. This is a specialized, pretty much military (right?) weapon..and shouldn't be in the hands of ANYONE who isn't qualified and has a reason to need training on the thing (let alone an EIGHT year old!). I hope you're right on the "pass new laws" thing..but I fear that the NRA crowd will fight that tooth and nail.
Originally Posted By Mr X "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." This is just too painful to hear. It's a testament to how things can go wrong, and CERTAINLY a reason why no eight year old should have their hands on such a lethal weapon.
Originally Posted By barboy ///I've been shooting rifles and hard-kicking pistols since I was 4 and I keep a loaded .38 in my nightstand,/// I can't tell if you are mocking here or not. But if you're serious, are you in law enforcement?
Originally Posted By wonderingalice I'm serious and no, I'm not in law enforcement. I was taught a deep respect for weapons from a very young age. My mom and dad enjoyed target shooting even before they were married and that carried over to me and my brother. We used to go down by the railroad tracks at Cajon Pass (when you could still get down there). We'd shoot at paper plate targets and old 78 RPM records (collectibles... who knew then? ;-) I was taught to NEVER pick up a gun on my own. My dad would hand it to me. And it was never to be pointed at anything but a target (and always pointed at the ground until ready to go). He kept the Ruger (semi-automatic pistol) loaded and in his nightstand. We NEVER touched it at home. EVER. I don't know what's happened to that type of serious gun safety education... It's a sad state of affairs these days. And yep... It's quite possible to be both for and against gun control.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice BTW... My .38 is registered with LV Metro Police Dept., but is never carried as a concealed weapon (I'm not registered to do that.)
Originally Posted By barboy Playing with potentially deadly weapons at age 4??? ****If true*** (I don't care if I'm perceived as crossing the line but I'm going to say it anyway): the only kind of parent/guardian who would willfully allow a 4 year old anywhere near an inherently deadly item like a firearm is a completely irresponisble one--- let alone putting that item in his/her child's hands for playtime
Originally Posted By wonderingalice It's your right to be shocked, barboy. We're from different generations/backgrounds, and I'm okay with that.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Something I'd like to point out, however... Serious target shooting in a safe environment is an "outing," not "playtime." Playtime implies we were goofing around - I can assure you, we were not.
Originally Posted By mele Well, so much for sneaking into alice's house and pulling any pranks on her. Darn it.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Pretty neat trick to post number 13, then say in 14 you just read 11. Anyway, my wife is the daughter of a retired LAPD sergeant. She's an only child. Because of his job, they HAD to have guns in the house. As a result, they taught her at a very early age (4-5, as soon as she could really comprehend) about guns. She eventually entered competitions, and became a marksman. She routinely beat police officers. And there were never any accidents. As for me, I've never fired a gun in my life and have no desire to do so.
Originally Posted By barboy --yep, definitely different backgrounds but not necessarily different generations; I arrived on this earth in the very late 1960's. But guns at 4? I'm not understanding this. I mean wouldn't you have had more fun with Chutes and Ladders and dolls?
Originally Posted By barboy ///Pretty neat trick to post number 13, then say in 14 you just read 11./// Well not really a trick at all--- I had the 1- 10 post screen up when I was writing my what turned out to be #13.(I had no idea if I would be positioned at #11 or #15 for that matter) Then I fixed some coffee and then posted it.
