Common Sense: One Woman's Reaction to "The Uzi Incident" in AZ

[movie zombie]

http://jpfo.org/articles-assd04/kenyon-common-sense.htm

I agree: divided we fail.

[Glock Girl in CA]

Great link!

[kaligaran]

Thank you for posting.

JPFO always has great articles.

[Asphodel]

http://jpfo.org/articles-assd04/kenyon-common-sense.htm

I agree: divided we fail.

If I may offer a personal opinion....

It would be that allowing a 9-year-old to fire a full automatic weapon, particularly a relatively light, short one, is a really, really bad idea, and doing so is to take a seriously irresponsible level of risk.

I have to admit to having very little experience with full-auto, as the very little bit I had was quite a few years ago, nothing more than some basic 'familiarisation fire', actually.

There is a specific skill which one must acquire, to fire anything full-auto, and maintain control of it, as the succession of recoils happens very, very quickly. One must learn to 'hold into' or 'lean into' the recoil pattern of the weapon, which does take some familiarisation to understand.

I don't know, from the stories on the internet, whether that instructor followed the prudent practice of having a trainee load only two rounds, then three, and so on, for familiarisation with the handling characteristics of the weapon.

To all appearances, from such of the story as one may read on the internet, that instructor made a terribly obvious mistake, as a person that young could not really be expected to have the 'upper body strength' to handle that class of weapon safely.

I can tell you that I would not allow a person of that age to fire one, even when loaded with only one round.

As a matter of prudence, anyone that young really should be restricted to the 22 rimfire, at least until he/she has developed a reasonable level of skill and practical experience with firearms.

(granted, this is a 'do as I say, not as I did'' item, as I would be 'getting my ducks in a row' with chicken mash when only a year older than that 9-year-old, and firing on them with an old 12ga shotgun. I well remember just how determined I had to be to keep from 'flinching', knowing what its recoil would be like.)

Some young people, most usually boys, will be really curious about firing a fulll-auto weapon. A practice I've seen done, but daren't recommend, as it is technically quite illegal, is to use one of the models of 22 semi-auto rifles in which the sear may be temporarily 'shimmed' to make it run full-auto only.

Usually, that will satisfy any 'curiosity' a young person may have, when they try to keep control of a 22 rifle, for a tight cone of fire with, say, five or ten rounds. They find its not so easy, even with a 22 rifle, which will be a 'humbling' experience for the generality of boys.

I just cannot imagine how that instructor in Arizona could be so extremely imprudent, in that instance, but he clearly enough 'paid the price' for his imprudence....not to mention the emotional trauma suffered by the young person and her parents.

As to the idealistic....or opportunistic ...fantasies of those who are promoting the so-called 'common sense' gun laws.......they either haven't read much history, or maybe they have, and are happily running a donation scam.

It was very nearly a century ago that idealists...or opportunists..... were clamouring for 'common sense' laws against the use of alcoholic beverages.

We all know how that bit of 'common sense' turned out, right?

I do feel so terribly badly for that young woman, who will have to bear the emotional scar of that needless and preventable tragedy for the rest of her life, and I've tears for the friends and family of the negligent instructor, as well, to be sure.

(I suppose I should add that when we've had literally hundreds of young people firing 22's for their first time, at our 'outreach' events, we've had to keep reminding one another to watch for the hazard of 'complacency'......and this tragedy so sadly demonstrates the reason for that bit of necessary vigilance.)

sadly

Carla

[movie zombie]

while I personally fault the girls' parents and then the instructor, I too feel sorry for the girl. however, the idea that gun control types will use this incident to further divide the gun community I think is the thrust of the article and why I posted it.

[shannia]

Good article! I do agree with you ladies that a 9 year old had no reason to be firing any automatic weapon for one, and certainly not a light weight Uzi for another. I can't imagine what this has done to the poor little girl either.

[Asphodel]

while I personally fault the girls' parents and then the instructor, I too feel sorry for the girl. however, the idea that gun control types will use this incident to further divide the gun community I think is the thrust of the article and why I posted it.

Hi, mz,

I meant to get back to this earlier.......well, I do apologise for the long 'rant', I was being really depressed after reading that news item.

As to the ways in which propagandists will work at 'dividing' the 'gun community', from what I've seen, they will try pretty much anything.

If one scam doesn't 'get traction' (I think thats what they call it), they'll try another, and so on ad infinitum.

Does it seem to you as tho this terribly tragic incident would, or could, in some way, 'further divide the gun community'?

If so, or possibly so, I'd be interested in hearing your evaluation or perception of the possibilities.

sadly

Carla

[3RDGEARGRNDRR]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/10/27/boy-8-shoots-self-with-uzi-at-gun-show/

http://bearingarms.com/negligent-suicide-with-a-500-smith-wesson-revolver/

Sad, nobody remembers these stories?
Negligence, never give a brand new shooter something they cant handle no matter what age, or sex
Were these victims not the right demographic to tug at the heartstrings and grab guns?

[SonofWWIIDI]

Nice article, thanks for the link.