Boy, 8, Shoots Self With Uzi at Gun Show

I can’t even imagine such a horrific fate for any child.
Neither can I imagine my child growing up without first hand knowledge and proficiency with each a handgun, rifle and shotgun.
What a horrible loss - but - let’s not forget it’s NO MORE a tragedy because a firearm was involved.
When parental judgment fails children die, no more or less because of a gun.


...taps...

Oh my that is horrible

I hope the kid is in heaven, and his family is able to live a good life still.



I don't think there should have been bullets at that show.

Live a good life still

How could that father ever live with this?

I could have gone all day without reading this thread. Why would someone feel the need to spread all this joy with the rest of us? How is this "Breaking Alternative News"

Have a wonderful day spreading your cheer.

Originally posted by deathhasnosound

Live a good life still

How could that father ever live with this?

I don't know. I doubt I could. I said "hope" for a reason.

Why would someone feel the need to spread all this joy with the rest of us?

Because closing your eyes doesn't solve problems.

Letting an 8 year old fire an automatic firearm which is very light and thus has huge recoil (UZIs are notorious for their lack of controllability when in full auto)...

Just a bad call by the parent and the show operator. Condolences to the father, I cant imagine what he is going through, but IMO he failed his son.

8 year olds should not be allowed to touch guns. An 8 year old is nowhere near mature enough to understand even the concept of respect for firearms. Nonetheless, they should be taught in a simplistic way never to touch firearms in a similar manner that they are taught not to stick their finger in a power socket. Both firearms and power sockets are equally ubiquitous in America, and so parents need to assume responsibility and teach their own children not to mess around with either.

A parent should introduce children around 12-14 to .22 calibre firearms only. They should teach them respect for the deadly nature of the weapon, how to shoot safely and accurately, clean and maintain them etc.

Only after they have grasped the basics of firearm safety and proficiency should they be allowed anywhere near fullbore firearms, pistols or automatics.


Calling for a total ban on guns; for guns to be restricted to all children under a certain age or any other such fascist overture is wholely lazy since it points the finger of blame at the most obvious candidate without acknowledging the finer aspects of the situation. Teaching the basics of gun safety to their child should be a moral obligation to every parent, regardless of whether or not they own a gun.

8 year olds should not be allowed to touch guns. An 8 year old is nowhere near mature enough to understand even the concept of respect for firearms. Nonetheless, they should be taught in a simplistic way never to touch firearms in a similar manner that they are taught not to stick their finger in a power socket. Both firearms and power sockets are equally ubiquitous in America, and so parents need to assume responsibility and teach their own children not to mess around with either.





Throughout history, young boys have been exposed to weapons at an early age. IMHO, the younger the better, but under total control of a responsible adult. My son had a cork gun @ 4yr's. Even then he was told the basics, (never point at anyone, it is always loaded, never touch unless I'm thier with him etc,) He's 8 now any those early influences are drilled into him. We go the shooting range ~3x a month and he knows the rules.

The incedent in Mass, was a tragic accident, and I agree that he should not have been allowed to use the Uzi on full auto.

reply to post by Pinktip


With all due respect, a cork gun is not an UZI.

I agree there should be incremental exposure. Perhaps a cork gun at age 4, low power bb gun at age 6, high power bb gun at age 8 and then .22 calibre firearms from 10/12 onwards.

But insofar as a weapon that is capable of real damage (.22 and above), I personally would not allow my child to use them when under the age of 10. I respect other people's right to raise their children as they please, but in my opinion a child under 10 doesn't have the mental stability to handle firearms properly.

If for example, there was a squib round and the bullet got lodged in the barrel. Would an 8 year old know not to fire again, or would he panic and shoot? If there is a jam, would an 8 year old know how to safely dislodge the round? There are just too many variables in shooting that require basic mental capacity, which in my opinion isnt displayed by small children. Though as I said, I support the fact that each parent is free to make his own decision.

reply to post by 44soulslayer


Great comments. I did not fire my first weapon until I was at least 10. I learned to fire a .22 bolt action at Summer camp under strict supervision of the instructor. We spent the first two days on safety and handling alone.

Anyway, of all the guns to let your 8 year old fire, a fully auto Uzi is not the one. My heart goes out to the father. I'm sure he thought it was safe in such a controlled environment.

It;s kind of like taking some city 8 year old with his not-too-bright father and having his father tell the little boy to go work a thresher.

Stupid happens.

For the other side the same day we had a machine gun shoot at Pemi in Holderness, NH and it went off wonderfully. People came from all over. Some with no firearms experience, some with plenty of hunting experience but no machinegun experience, we had cops and military personnel and everyone had a blast

You never hear about the few hundred who had fun. You only hear about the one freak catastrophic failure.

With all due respect, a cork gun is not an UZI.



I have no idea how you think I made that jump..........

I was only building the incremental exposure case......02c

I have not read every post in this thread, but what I see most in this is amunation for the anti gun lobbyist to pass more gun control laws now. Also with Obama in office that may not be to hard to actually happen.

Originally posted by beforetime
i posted this a good 6 hours before this thread started.

The link you just posted is about a gun club in Kentucky. This is about a fatal accidental shooting in Massachutes. Different story.

"This accident was truly a mystery to me," said Bizilj, director of emergency medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Connecticut. "This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don't know why it happened."

The fathers comments seem bizarre. More bizarre is that the father was the Director of Emergency Medicine at a hospital??? My god, one would think this man would be an EXPERT on the massive trauma caused by gunshot wounds.

What was the man thinking? Standing 10 feet behind his kid when the kid had never fired a weapon like this before? It is a mystery how this happened? It is a mystery to me how a father would make comments like that right after his kid shot himself in the head.

For the record I am pro-gun and I do not think the stupidity of a few individuals should impact the rights of everyone. Stupid "accidents" happen and kids get killed, whether it is amazingly stupid acts involving guns or kids getting run over by big lawn mowers.

[edit on 28-10-2008 by Sonya610]

With respect for all american people here, but this can happen only in USA.... Nobody here in Italy think to give a UZI to a 8 y.o. children, but in United States, the land of opportunity (to death) anyone can find a weapon everywhere...also in a fair open to minor....

Poor child, dead at 8 because he was surrounded by fools and presented with a loaded automatic.

His father was dry-eyed and unrepentant in a video afterward, telling the world what a great kid Christopher had been.

Mr Bizlij, the director of emergency medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Connecticut, said he let his son try the Uzi because it was a 'small' weapon with little recoil. He said: "This accident was truly a mystery to me This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don't know why it happened."

If my husband took my little kids to a gun show, gave one a loaded Uzi to shoot with while he stood back taking pictures, and still couldn't work out later how come the kid was dead, I'd never let him near the remaining kids again.

As a Director of emergency medicine this idiot knows that guns kill. It's not like he was an unschooled person of low IQ. I don't care how upset people think he might be. He's just as guilty of manslaughter as if he'd chucked the kid off the Golden Gate and stood there innocently wondering why he drowned.

reply to post by red 5


You have your opinion and good for you. I am a gun owner have been shooting guns since I was a kid. Heck, when I was 14 I had them in a gun rack in my bedroom. I never thought once to take them down and let other kids handle them. Today, I keep all my guns in a safe-I am the only one with the combo. I'm glad that I have this Freedom to have guns or "arms." I'm glad we have Freedom of Speech that you are using- but without Guns there would have not been a Revolution and you wouldn’t be typing why we (all of us) need guns.

reply to post by red 5


Take the Full Auto Uzi for instance. You have to go through many steps to purchase this gun. The regular background check, the local Chief LEO has to sign off, then your fingerprints and pictures to the BATF for approval plus a special Tax Stamp. The Guns can and prolly be inspected from time to time from ATF. You are correct there is no total ban of guns in certain locales. However, there are several states and cities that have a BAN on certain types of firearms and most cases they are the same cities that have worse gun crime than other cities that do not.

Chicago comes to mind as well as LA. Here in Texas, you might with certain Death if you break into a person’s home or try to rob someone. So, are you saying that I do not have a Right to Defend my self. A total Ban worked out real well for those people in Australia. Now only the Criminals have Guns.

The accident with the 8 year old shouldn’t have happened. A 22 long rifle should have been the choice. But, the wrong choice was made. The Father has already paid the price. I think that the range bears some responsibility as well-but BANS do not WORK.

Prohibition ring a bell?

reply to post by Kailassa


One surmises the medical profession isnt as selective as it used to be... shouldn't a doctor know that:

a. Letting an 8 year old near an automatic firearm without training is lunacy

b. That a lighter weapon, chambered with a fullbore round will produce a massive amount of uncontrollable recoil for an 8 year old child.

Anyway, this guy doesn't need to be prosecuted. Don't you think that having to bear the guilt of this event is enough? Plus why waste taxpayers' money incarcerating him when he isnt of immediate threat to others; and there is no element of rehabilitation. Punishment isn't a good enough reason in this case...

I own an UZI .45 SMG, but it is converted to a 9mm for now. Relatively speaking from my experience these firearms are a bit heavier than others of compariable calibur, and would be surprised if this child was actually holding an SMG with any kind of stability on his own. Again, if this was the out of production SMG UZI, it was not a light weapon at all, relatively speaking. I am surely amazed he did not simply drop the gun after the initial burst. He may have been using a mini or micro UZI, some of which are like pistol sized. I have deep regret on the lapse of judgement by the father. I couldnt imagine how I would react to this with my own son in later years.

I disgress with outlawing guns at all in todays world. That would be like outlawing swords in Feudal Japan.

On the other hand though, I really do not see much use for Fully automatic unless you are entrenched in a battlefield. It is a waste of ammunition otherwise IMO. It also reduces accuracy to an extent.

[edit on 10/28/2008 by DYepes]