I heard this story earlier today on the radio show I listen to, and was absolutely disgusted by it. I can't believe that people still think that we should loosen our gun laws.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Three men, including a small-town police chief, were indicted Thursday on involuntary manslaughter counts in the gun-fair death of an 8-year-old who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi that a prosecutor said he never should have been allowed to handle.The club where the fair was held also was charged. The fair had promised shooters would have certified instructors in an advertisement, but District Attorney William Bennett said the child, Christopher Bizilj, was supervised by an uncertified 15-year-old boy.Bizilj, of Connecticut, lost control of the 9mm micro submachine gun as it recoiled while he was firing at a pumpkin Oct. 26 at a Firearms Expo in Massachusetts.[...]Fleury and the club also were indicted on four counts each of furnishing a machine gun to a minor. A conviction on each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to $10,000 in fines and the loss of a firearms license for at least 10 years.Bennett said prosecutors know of at least four children, including Bizilj, who fired automatic weapons at the fair. He added that Fleury had wrongly assured Guiffre and Spano that it was legal for children to use the Uzi under Massachusetts law."A Micro Uzi is made by and for the Israeli Armed Forces and is intended to meet the operational needs of Israeli Special Forces," Bennett said, noting the weapon has a rate of fire of 1,700 rounds per minute. "It is not a hunting weapon."[...]The machine gun shoot drew hundreds of people to the sporting club's 375-acre compound. An advertisement said it would include machine gun demonstrations and rentals and free handgun lessons.The ad also said children under 16 would be admitted free, and both adults and children were offered free .22-caliber pistol and rifle shooting.Christopher's father was 10 feet behind him and reaching for his camera when the child fired the weapon.
I can't believe that people (that anyone) thought it was okay to put a machine gun in the hands of an eight-year-old child. I can't believe that anyone thought it was okay to put a fifteen-year-old child in charge of the machine guns. I can't believe that anyone thinks it's necessary for an average citizen needs a machine gun.
Can you imagine how that poor father feels? According to the story, he let his child use the Uzi because he had been 'assured it was safe' by the workers at the gun show, being told that it would be safer because of its diminutive size. And there he was, getting out his camera (no doubt to snap a picture of his young boy 'shootin' the gun') and instead witnessed the horror of watching his own child take a bullet in the head.
Our gun laws are an embarrassment. That we still hold these gun shows (or that we allow assault rifles and automatic weaponry to be sold at all) sickens me. We need, as a country, to seriously re-evaluate our gun laws and act accordingly. Hightened restrictions, longer waiting periods, age requirements - these are only a start to what needs to be done. Surely (just as the right to free speech or religion) our right to bear arms must contain some caveats and restrictions.
9 comments:
More specifically.. what caveats and restrictions do you propose?
I agree that these people were completely irresponsible morons, but just can't along with the mentality of punishing the many for the sins of the few.
Specifically the gun shows have GOT to go. Where did the kids who perpetrated the Columbine massacre get their guns? Where did an 8-year-old kid get handed a friggin' Uzi?
The purchasing process is far too lax when it comes to the gun shows. At least in a shop they are more apt to actually follow the already existing laws of background checks, waiting periods, etc.
And I know you're a big proponent of guns, Kyle, and that you really like 'em. But I also know you're responsible. I don't think we should 'take your guns away' or anything, because you have a constitutional right to them. But a little common sense and responsibility would go a long way.
The Libertarian in me couldn't agree more with the 2nd Amendment, and I do believe that the it's more worried about protection rather than hunting rights. Nevertheless, is a Uzi relevant? Isn't a shotgun more than sufficient enough to protect ourselves?
The last time I was at a gun show, I couldn't count all the guys, who were mentally unstable, with only my fingers and toes. I remember seeing some schmuck at a gun show in 2003 only to have his mug shot on the news a few days later.
However, personally, I think this is a much deeper issue. Irresponsibility is only half of the gun problem. I don't think the other problems can be fixed with laws.
Im just trying to educate myself a little. Because I do believe that the gun purchasing system isnt perfect. But I havent got a clue on how you could change it and still not cause an uprising.
Do you have a source on the Columbine kids getting guns at the gun show? Im just curious.
I bought one gun at a gun show and it was the same experience I had when I bought from an in store retailer, just took longer. But thats one experience at one show.. not all of them are the same.
and i really need to learn html.
The Columbine shooters had someone buy the guns for them at the Tanner Gun Show in December of '98.
http://www.usmayors.org/usmayornewspaper/documents/02_21_00/friend_article.htm
Statement by the one that was with them at the gun show
i agree with you completely
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