Absolutely, utterly, tragic!
Shooting instructor dies after being accidentally shot by girl
An instructor who was shot by a 9-year-old girl who fired an Uzi at a northwestern Arizona shooting range died Monday night at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
[snip]
He said the girl safely and successfully fired the 9 mm weapon several times when it was set in the “single-shot” mode.
He said the weapon was put into the “fully-automatic” mode before the girl fired again with the instructor standing off to her left. The weapon recoiled and drifted left as the girl squeezed off an undetermined number of rounds as she maintained possession but lost control of the Uzi as it raised up above her head.
“The guy just dropped,” McCabe said of shooting instructor Charles Vacca, 39, of Lake Havasu City, who suffered at least one gunshot to the head.
[snip]
The Bullets and Burgers website markets a unique shooting experience for customers.
“Our guests have the opportunity to fire a wide range of fully automatic machine guns and specialty weapons,” the website states. “At our range, you can shoot FULL auto on our machine guns.
“Let ‘em Rip!”
Well, this Bullets and Burgers place certainly lived up to it's motto - it ripped, alright.
Ripped apart the instuctor, that is.
Susie Madrak, over on Crooks and Liars, pondered;
"Maybe the kid's hands were greasy from the burgers and slipped?"
Why, good God, does a 9-year-old need to learn how to shoot an Uzi? ...Are the well-armed Miltias drafting them that young?
And, sorry about the dead instructor, but, shouldn't he have known, from his training and experience, to stand behind the person - in this case, a 9-year-old firing an Uzi for the first time - shooting? Shouldn't he have been helping her to control the weapon, holding her hands or arms, not to let the recoil spray bullets all over the place?
That error in judgement cost him his life.
And, we have to speculate, ruined the life of the 9-year-old girl, who, will likely, be tramautized by this for years to come, replaying the incident over-and-over in her head ... Having nightmares about it, hearing a car backfire, or other loud noise, flood her again with the images of squeezing the trigger of the Uzi, feeling her losing control of it, ... Seeing the bullets hit the instructor ... Seeing him dead on the ground ... Seeing the puddles of blood ...
Even if she does get the counselling, and help, and, by some miracle, gets to live a normal, productive life (and the odds are long on that, I would suspect), she will have this memory for the rest of her life, and with it the sadness, the hurt, the guilt.
Maybe, when she is older, she will begin to question why her parents allowed her to do this. Was it a gift for doing well in school? Had she been interested in learning to shoot guns and this was the next step up, an automatic weapon, a machine gun?
Some gift, some learning curve, if that be the case.
"Children need to understand the concept of safety before they are allowed to shoot, Frichette said.
Also, they must be “physically and mentally prepared” before they are allowed to shoot a fully automatic weapon. This includes a 4-foot height requirement, he said, adding that even then, they have to master other weapons such as a semi-automatic .22-caliber rifle before they’re allowed to shoot a fully automatic.
He added that a petite-looking child would likely only be allowed to shoot a semi-automatic rifle.
The Review-Journal contacted several other gun ranges in Las Vegas. One did not return a call and officials at another two declined to comment."
Parents of this now traumatized 9-year-old, even if they are responsible gun-owners, should, perhaps, be charged with Child Endangerment.. Again, why does a 9-year-old need to learn to shoot an Uzi, a machine gun?
The standard in this country, to obtain a driver's license, is 16-years-old (some states do have it lower, age 14)
And, with that, one must first obtain a Learner's Permit, and one must have training, or practice with a licensed driver.
Afterall, an automobile can be a dangerous weapon, if one doesn't know how to operate it, to be knowledgable of the rules and regulations of driving, speed limits, when to stop, etc.
They must demonstrate, at the time of their License Test, the ability to be able to handle the automobile, safely, and with the appropriate knowledge of the rules of the road.
That would appear to be a practical standard for allowing children to shoot guns.
I don't know for sure, but I hope Bullets and Burgers aren't operating a Driving School.
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