Trust me...I live a few towns away from where this happened...when I read the headline in the local newspaper on my way to the bus-stop the other morning I immediately said out loud "what the FUCK is wrong with people?!" Seriously...we have a real problem when anyone thinks it's okay to give anyone under the age of 18 an *uzi*. BB gun/air rifle? Sure, if you're showing them how to use it properly. Handgun or shotgun/rifle? Sure, once the kid has shown that they're mature enough to take the lessons seriously. I'm not anti gun, I think it's a good idea to teach kids proper gun handling. But seriously...an UZI?? NO ONE should be using fully automatic weapons who isn't a licensed, trained professional who has a serious legitimate reason.
The thing that boggles me is, given a person who thinks his 8 year old somehow NEEDS to know how to use an Uzi, why would they not, yknow...
1) hold the gun WITH the kid while firing it the first couple of times, so the kid gets used to the sound and gets a small idea of the kick so they're less surprised and then, oh, 2) hold the kids arms as sort of backup training wheels so the kid gets used to the feeling in his hands and the shaking and etc, and then 3) advance to hovering over the kid with your hands ABOVE their arms as emergency backup stoppers, to prevent the kid from getting a bloody nose (or killing themselves) from a runaway gun and then 4) hover right next to your kid?
Don't leap immediately to "Taking photos" for fucks sake.
Three round burst is your friend...not that the Uzi does that. While I know a guy with a Class3 FFL, I haven't shot any of his guns that require him to have it. I wouldn't mind firing a Famas on burst though...they're nifty little guns.
The Uzi...yeah, I have to agree that sometimes you just gotta go on full auto for the novelty.
A Three round burst is the rule for M16s, because more than that can warp the barrel. Unsure about Uzis, but I think they're light and they would be hard to control by an adult, let alone a kid.
Seriously, why would any thinking adult let their kid touch, let alone shoot, an Uzi. An M60 is a lot heavier, and is hard enough to control (only got to shoot one once in advanced training).
Trouble is, a lot of older submachineguns doesn't have anything between "off" and "ROCK AND ROLL", or rather, "spray and pray". I know the old m/45 I trained with in the army didn't, and the original Uzi is from the same period.
Which, if this is the case, makes it even more stupid from everyone involved.
I wouldn't hand an 8 year old anything physically smaller than a .22 rifle or of higher caliber. It was the first gun I ever shot, and it had very little recoil, was bolt action so you weren't likely to shoot yourself on accident, oh yeah, there were a bunch of adults around making sure we didn't do anything stupid.
Kids shouldn't have SMGs, machine pistols, or handguns of any sort. I wouldn't trust most teens with them either, but I wouldn't worry about them losing physical control of the weapon.
In my defense, I know sweet crap all about the fiddly details of guns. I know some of the words from living with a "textbook" gun enthusiast (as in, enthusiastic about guns when they're in textbooks, not as in "classic gun enthusiast with NRA membership and shooting range membership and a monthly budget for ammo"
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 12:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 01:07 pm (UTC)1) hold the gun WITH the kid while firing it the first couple of times, so the kid gets used to the sound and gets a small idea of the kick so they're less surprised and then, oh,
2) hold the kids arms as sort of backup training wheels so the kid gets used to the feeling in his hands and the shaking and etc, and then
3) advance to hovering over the kid with your hands ABOVE their arms as emergency backup stoppers, to prevent the kid from getting a bloody nose (or killing themselves) from a runaway gun and then
4) hover right next to your kid?
Don't leap immediately to "Taking photos" for fucks sake.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 01:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 01:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 01:38 pm (UTC)I know full-auto is a waste, but this is an Uzi. The *point* is to go full-auto once in a while.
Thing is, you should *know what to expect* when doing that.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 03:42 pm (UTC)The Uzi...yeah, I have to agree that sometimes you just gotta go on full auto for the novelty.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 05:49 pm (UTC)A Three round burst is the rule for M16s, because more than that can warp the barrel. Unsure about Uzis, but I think they're light and they would be hard to control by an adult, let alone a kid.
Seriously, why would any thinking adult let their kid touch, let alone shoot, an Uzi. An M60 is a lot heavier, and is hard enough to control (only got to shoot one once in advanced training).
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 03:34 pm (UTC)Which, if this is the case, makes it even more stupid from everyone involved.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 03:46 pm (UTC)Kids shouldn't have SMGs, machine pistols, or handguns of any sort. I wouldn't trust most teens with them either, but I wouldn't worry about them losing physical control of the weapon.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 02:24 pm (UTC)It's fucking sub-moronic rednecks that kill children by handing them UZIs.
This pisses me off soooo bad.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-28 10:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-02 03:15 am (UTC)I will never understand American gun culture.
I can't imagine ever wanting to be in the same room as even the smallest gun. To give ANY gun, let alone this kind of gun to a child?!
*boggles*