So I just read this story and figured I'd post it if anyway hasn't seen it yet. What are your thoughts on this? As someone who's been around firearms their entire life and trained in its proper use it really bothers me that a 9 y/o even got close to that weapon. To make it even worse - all of this was caught on video. If you google it you can see a small clip of him getting her setup to shoot it. The gun shop allows children as young as 8 to shoot guns and trains them on unloaded firearms at a even younger age. I think thats great, if a parent makes that choice to have their child learn the proper ways of handling and shooting a weapon. However I don't understand how the parents of this girl even remotely thought it would be a good idea for her to handle a fully automatic Uzi. I've seen grown adults have trouble handling a weapon on full auto let alone a 9 y/o with little to no experience. I understand we probably don't know all the details to this yet and please don't let this turn into some sort of flame war.

 

"The child shot once and then lost control of the Uzi, firing four more shots. The recoil during the child's operation of the firearm sent it over her head and resulted in Vacca being struck in the head." That sentence gives all the reason we need as to why this should have never happened. The CHILD..lost control (of a fully auto weapon - no surprise there) causing the recoil, which everyone should have known she wouldn't be able to handle, to send it over her head and striking him in the head. You really can't explain to an adult what recoil feels like or how much recoil something has until they actually shoot it. Now how did we expect a child to be able to understand this and be prepared for it which she obviously wasn't since it walked back over her head with her finger still on the trigger. Now a family man with 10+ years of military experience is dead... Why? So they could say their 9 y/o shot a full auto uzi. I hope the parents are happy because now the whole world knows. Sorry if I repeated myself while typing this - when I read this is just made me really angry that it even was allowed to happen. 

 

ARTICLE:...

"DOLAN SPRINGS, AZ (FOX5) - Authorities in northwest Arizona said the recoil on an automatic Uzi while in the hands of a 9-year-old girl led to a weapon instructor's fatal shooting. Charles Vacca, 39, of Lake Havasu City, AZ, died Monday night while being treated at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday. The sheriff's office said the incident happened about 10 a.m. Monday at an outdoor shooting range at the Last Stop at 20606 North Highway 93 in White Hills near the Nevada-Arizona border. According to the sheriff's office, the instructor was standing next to the girl who was handling a 9 mm automatic Uzi. Citing an investigation, the sheriff's office said the child shot once and then lost control of the Uzi, firing four more shots. The recoil during the child's operation of the firearm sent it over her head and resulted in Vacca being struck in the head, deputies said. The man was airlifted to UMC where he later died. The sheriff's office said the child's parents were present at the time of the incident. A spokeswoman with Mohave County Sheriff's Office said the girl's father handled the gun first before the 9-year-old operated it. "It's so easy for us to go back and look at something that's very tragic and say, 'Boy! Why did that occur? That should not have happened because of,'" said Mohave County Sheriff Jim McCabe. "Well, maybe from now on, that 'because of' will be in place." On Tuesday, cell phone video shot by the girl's mother was released, showing the moments leading to the fatal shooting. In the video, Vacca is shown instructing the girl on stance and operation of the weapon.

The Clark County Coroner's Office was assigned to perform an autopsy."

I agree with you, I find it highly disturbing that a child is let near any kind of firearm. 

There was another incident several years ago of a 9 year old boy in Nebraska that lost control of his father's Uzi while firing it, and unfortunately, a bullet killed the child.

As many on here know, I'm very pro gun and I've been shooting since I was around 6, but letting children that young shoot a full auto that isn't A)a .22 or B)in a supported position should be child endangerment.

To me, the real tragedy is that that girl has to live with what happened.

9 is way too young for a gun like that. If the parents really wanted her to shoot they should've taught her on a .22. Hell, I'm 15 and I wouldn't wanna be anywhere near a full auto uzi

Very sad, fully loaded guns can be very dangerous in the hands of a child.

I blame the parents.

This is why when you fire a gun like that you should only load one round in, so if it does get out of control there won't be a bunch of extra rounds getting sprayed all over the place and possibly causing injury. I think it is just plain stupidity to let

somebody that young and inexperienced fire a weapon like that. 

A UZI is a horrible gun to begin with. It's kinda dumb to let an 8 year old handle a fully automatic UZI anyway. RIP.

The unfortunate outcome of a terrible decision. You don't start a child with an uzi. Maybe a BB gun or a .22

Idiot parents. It's all their fault this man is dead. Like seriously? Why the hell would you bring your 9 year old child to a shooting range? Are you so god damn retarded? If you are going to let them shoot guns atleast start with a pistol.

I would blame the gun, not the parents - or the kid. If letting a kid shoot was that bad, gunranges wouldnt exist. In a way it can be the parents fault, she should of started with a .22 handgun or something similar. Then again it was a girl, considering they have less upper body strength that might of went into play..But either way a 9 year old shooting an extremely dangerous weapon, on full auto - Thats a recipe for disaster.

Here is the video, thankfully it cuts off at the incident. Then again look where the instructor was when she shot it.

 

Edited August 27, 201411 yr by iiKonrad

I would blame the gun, not the parents - or the kid. If letting a kid shoot was that bad, gunranges wouldnt exist. In a way it can be the parents fault, she should of started with a .22 handgun or something similar. Then again it was a girl, considering they have less upper body strength that might of went into play..But either way a 9 year old shooting an extremely dangerous weapon, on full auto - Thats a recipe for disaster.

Here is the video, thankfully it cuts off at the incident. Then again look where the instructor was when she shot it.

 

I don't know how you could blame the gun and not the kid/parents, the gun is fired by countless others without issue along with other automatic weapons. Then again I don't know if "blame" is the right word for this situation. This is a situation that never should have happened from the beginning, she should have never been given the option to or been told to shoot that gun on full auto. As many of you have said and I agree, she should have only been shooting a .22 until she was proficient enough to understand and respect a weapon. Not take a trip from New Jersey and put her behind a full auto Uzi. That would be like taking a 15 year old driver with a learners permit, putting them behind the wheel of a Ferrari and telling them to go 150 mph. They would crash because they are young and incapable of handling the situation and the equipment. I honestly feel bad for both parties, the man and his family for obvious reasons as well as the girl and her parents. As angry as I am that they put her in that situation, it still makes me feel for them because I can only imagine how horrible they feel. Even though it was a accident their daughter took a mans life in the course of a situation they put her in and they will have to live with that. 

 

As for the video - it conflicts with the story with the story saying he was standing behind her when it happened which would make more sense than the position in the video. It didn't say if the actual shooting was caught on tape or not, if it did I missed it. That could have been shot prior to the actual shooting. Him standing behind her would fit the order of events that it recoiled causing the gun to go backwards over her shoulder hitting him in the head. Now, this whole situation aside, shouldn't the instructor be in a place (when having someone shoot a full auto weapon) that he would be able to stop the weapon from walking up/right/left like that? By having his arms or hands placed in a way to prevent that? 

 

EDIT: I did some more reading, you were right, that is the video where only seconds later he was shot. So that was his position when he was struck.... The gun must (obviously) have recoiled to the left, striking him. You can hear what sounds like the girl dropping the gun and the split second of a scream/yelling..chilling 

 

Thanks to everyone for the input and replies, I enjoy reading everyone's views and opinions 

Edited August 28, 201411 yr by NickieB

As for the video - it conflicts with the story with the story saying he was standing behind her when it happened which would make more sense than the position in the video. It didn't say if the actual shooting was caught on tape or not, if it did I missed it. That could have been shot prior to the actual shooting. Him standing behind her would fit the order of events that it recoiled causing the gun to go backwards over her shoulder hitting him in the head. Now, this whole situation aside, shouldn't the instructor be in a place (when having someone shoot a full auto weapon) that he would be able to stop the weapon from walking up/right/left like that? By having his arms or hands placed in a way to prevent that? 

I've been to full auto shoots before, and no matter how big some one was the full-auto owners kept a hand right behind the shoulder the gun was pressed into.

I've been to full auto shoots before, and no matter how big some one was the full-auto owners kept a hand right behind the shoulder the gun was pressed into.

Yea thats what I thought, I've since edited that post but the video above is seconds before he was struck so that was his position when killed. Standing beside her like that he had little to no control over any force that would have been exerted on her by the recoil.

I do see some valid points here. Nothing too bad. I see a lot of people think it was too much for the child to handle, but it's what they allowed. It's not illegal, it's just something gone wrong. Maybe the child wasn't prepared for this kind of weapon. I've been around guns half of my life. I've been taught proper safety and how to handle guns. I've never had an accident in my life, only weapon jams. This is merely and accident. I do agree, a full auto weapon is not very safe for a child of that age to handle, especially with little to no experience. You shouldn't just give your 9 year old a fully auto weapon and just say, here ya' are! Heck, not with any weapon. I think more safety measures should of been taken in this situation, But we'll just get a heck more crap on gun control from this incident.

 

Well there's my piece.

Edited August 28, 201411 yr by DeputyLund

I agree with you, I find it highly disturbing that a child is let near any kind of firearm. 

 

I was taught to shoot at the age of 9. The first firearm I ever operated? An AR-15. Subsequently, a 1911, one I still have to this day, and baby it, because it's my favorite gun.

 

I disagree with you that a child should "never be near a firearm". I believe it's perfectly okay for parents to instruct their children on gun safety and operation. Hell, I encourage it, and if/when I ever have my own child, I will do exactly that.

 

It was a mistake for this particular instructor to allow the child to use a fully-automatic gun. But it isn't a bad thing that a child is being taught how to operate a firearm, along with the proper stance and whatnot -- clearly, there are no bad intentions here. Just a waaaay incorrect set of equipment for someone learning to fire. Unfortunately it ended up with the instructor dying. But it's not the girl's fault. 

 

This could have been prevented if the girl was given something small to start out with, like a pistol or a rifle. I don't see it right that children are never taught how to shoot, nor are ever taught gun safety. What are they going to do later in their teenage years when they come across a weapon, accidentally flip a switch and somehow shoot themselves with it, because they were never taught proper safety and operation?

And I disagree with you that a child should be allowed to operate any kind of firearm, even under the "right" circumstances. Children are just children. They don't understand right from wrong, and they have sometimes no control over their limbs. Even if it was "just" a smaller gun, an accident could easily have happened. The recoil of a gun is extreme, too extreme for any child to handle. An instructor cannot prepare any child for recoil if the child is shocked, or scared etc. There's a lot of things that could go wrong. The most horrible thing that could go wrong did go wrong in this case. All in all a horrible story for everyone involved. 

 

We're all entitled to our own opinons though. 

 

EDIT: 

I'm not sure what you mean with the last part, I never said that we never should teach children about guns. What we should teach them that guns are for adults, please don't touch things found on the ground, especially a gun. Why not teach them to call the police? Call an adult? There's no real need for any child to take care of a gun themselves. 

 

I'm not saying that an adult is more capable for handling a gun, but most adults know that the barrel is where the bullet exits out of (i.e don't point that at anyone and anything). 

Edited August 28, 201411 yr by ineseri

This. Well said.

I was taught to shoot at the age of 9. The first firearm I ever operated? An AR-15. Subsequently, a 1911, one I still have to this day, and baby it, because it's my favorite gun.

 

I disagree with you that a child should "never be near a firearm". I believe it's perfectly okay for parents to instruct their children on gun safety and operation. Hell, I encourage it, and if/when I ever have my own child, I will do exactly that.

 

It was a mistake for this particular instructor to allow the child to use a fully-automatic gun. But it isn't a bad thing that a child is being taught how to operate a firearm, along with the proper stance and whatnot -- clearly, there are no bad intentions here. Just a waaaay incorrect set of equipment for someone learning to fire. Unfortunately it ended up with the instructor dying. But it's not the girl's fault. 

 

This could have been prevented if the girl was given something small to start out with, like a pistol or a rifle. I don't see it right that children are never taught how to shoot, nor are ever taught gun safety. What are they going to do later in their teenage years when they come across a weapon, accidentally flip a switch and somehow shoot themselves with it, because they were never taught proper safety and operation?

 

Personally, I believe children (under the age of 13) shouldn't be shooting anything more powerful than a .22. Physically they're not developed enough to actually be able to handle recoil of a gun (scared or not), and most children aren't mentally ready to understand gun safety. It's like all those videos of a petite 5'3 girl shooting a Remington 12 g. The physique is just not there, but more so in a child. I fully blame the parents and instructor. He at least starts her off by just allowing her to shoot a single shot. But then the idiot decides, "she obviously can handle fully automatic, with NO stock". I'm sorry, and may the guy Rest in Peace, but he was an idiot to do this. 

 

Like the asshole that is letting her shoot this.

Then again, you never know when the world will go to shit: