The Uzi Nightmare

Current Events, Gun rights, Opinion, , , ,

I am so sorry for that poor nine-year old girl who accidentally shot her range master/shooting instructor with an Uzi automatic submachine gun. This tragic accident happened at an Arizona popular tourist attraction called Bullets and Burgers (really??). They also broke their own rules, as shooters are supposed to be at least 10-years old. What in the world were they thinking when they all allowed this to happen. Someone with experience (like the range masters) should have been aware of the inherent danger of this activity.

The chief deputy for the Mohave County Attorney’s Office stated he did not fault the parents as they had placed their trust in the range master. I’m sorry, but I do fault the parents, as well as the range master and his establishment. THEY ALL should have known better than to allow this young girl to handle one of the most powerful weapons made. To me, this is nothing short of child endangerment.   A nine-year old girl does not have the physical strength to control the recoil of a weapon like that.

I am a supporter of gun rights and I taught my child to shoot as a teenager, not a nine-year old child. I am an excellent shot and handle my weapons well and responsibly. I have owned .32-caliber, .44-caliber magnum and .357-caliber revolvers; .380-caliber, .40-caliber and many 9mm semi-automatic pistols throughout my lifetime. I have shot an assault rifle (AR) a few times, but it is different and a bit larger (than an Uzi) and I shot it with it set up on a table on the mounting legs attached to it.

I have also shot an Uzi. I will tell you, when I fired the Uzi, I got off quite a few rounds, but at some point the gun got away from me, as a result of the recoil. Being experienced, I was able to control my weapon enough to allow it to go angle up, as opposed to some where else. Once I got my finger out of the trigger guard, and my arms and the gun out of the air, my husband and his cousin told me to finish the clip. I have to be honest, as excited as I had been to shoot this particular weapon, I declined to finish emptying the clip, telling them if I can’t control my weapon, I don’t have any desire to shoot it. I have never shot another Uzi since.

I am so shocked, saddened and heartbroken for that little girl who now has to live with this horrible accident that should have never happened. She has to live with the fact that she has killed another human being. I can’t help but wonder if she really even wanted to shoot that gun, or was it her parents who wanted it. (I say that because the first time my child shot a pistol, she wasn’t thrilled and we didn’t do it again for a few years until she was ready mentally.)

People get a clue – gun rights come with responsibility. Obviously, no one was acting in a responsible manner that day, and because of it, someone’s son (maybe someone’s husband or father or brother, not sure as I couldn’t find that info) didn’t make it home that night. Army veteran Charles Vacca, the range master, managed to survive tours in Iraq and Afghanistan to come home and be killed in such an irresponsible act of stupidity. It just doesn’t get any more tragic than this . . .

The names of the scarred-for-life little girl and her parents have not been released, but the video of the accident is all over the news and the Internet. I did hear on the news that this establishment has decided to change it age requirement to 12 years of age. I’m curious what others think about children shooting guns, particularly weapons of this type.

Just something I was thinking about . . .

30 thoughts on “The Uzi Nightmare”

  2. I can’t beleve that it is up to the firing range to set age and other requirments. They are a business whose job it is to make money -it is a conflict of interest for them to also set the rules.

    I’m not much of a gun affeciendo.but I fired an Uzi once on full auto. Now I’m 6’3″ and 240 pounds and I could not control it, The nozzle rose into the air with bullets spraying upwards. I was aiming at a tree trunk and all I got was a rain of bullet-holed leaves. It blows me awas that a professional would ever give an Uzi to a 9 year old and expect her to keep conrol. it. The only thought that crosses my mind is that it looks like Darwinism at work.

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    1. I know Paul – really unimaginable . . .
      There seems to be many businesses here that set their own requirements – which might be a good thing most times if people acted conscientiously with some responsibility & morals . . . but to me these are the types of incidents that show capitalism is at its worst!
      Thanks for reading & commenting! I read your guest blog 🙂 REALLY enjoyed it – left you a comment there 🙂

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  3. What does it say about our society when parents feel compelled to take their children to gun ranges and attempt to teach them to use automatic weapons. I totally blame the parents for what happened. They are victims of a gun madness that has infected this nation.

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    1. I know Doobster, there is a gun mania going on & it got even worse when President Obama was elected & everyone said he was going to confiscate their guns – but what really happened is gun prices went up & ammo skyrocketed!!! And people got stupider! The media pundits freak them out & they go and spend money. That’s the model . . .
      Thanks for stopping by & commenting 🙂

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  4. What’s the Spiderman creed? “With great power comes great responsibility.” Looks like several people screwed up. The parents, the ranger operators and the range instructor.

    None of the news stories I looked at mentioned what the Uzi was chambered for. They can be set up to fire .22 LR all the way up to .45 ACP. It would be insanity to allow a small girl to fire .45 rounds at 600 RPM and even .22 LR at that fire rate is probably a very bad idea for someone that size.

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          1. Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that Lance. Sending many good wishes & positive thoughts your way!! Hope you are better soon ! (i am gonna say a little prayer, too, but not gonna mention that cause i know you don’t believe – but I do & to each his own 😉 ❤

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          2. Oh & when you said you were devoting your morning to peruse, haunt & lurk around my blog – made me smile!! So really kidding with you about reading my posts . . . yet really serious about wishing you well!!

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            1. Dear Sadie,
              I am between bits of sanity…. Elusive Butterfly’s…
              I meant what I said; yet…. I am becoming remiss in the follow thru…
              But… I will get there.
              By the by…
              You’ll see.

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    2. Yes, yes they did Wyrd Smythe! (Screw up I mean, all of them.) I don’t think they mentioned it because your right, the size doesn’t matter in this instance, the media probably feel most of the public is too stupid to understand it, and personally I have also thought it’s just as easy to die from a .22 as it is a.44 depending on where you’re hit (in your body & how far from medical help) . . .
      Thanks for reading & commenting ☮

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    1. Lance – I do have a few funny posts that are good for distraction . . . search for comedy on my blog & there’s a few that will come up. I have another blog, but it’s full of poetry (mostly bad) and romance drivel. I don’t cross promote them because they are both SO different (which is why I have 2) 🙂
      So glad you stopped by 🙂

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  6. I know I’m speaking the obvious but what went on there is the clearest case of child endangerment that I’ve ever seen. Hell, a kid that small isn’t allowed on most rides at an amusement park for Christ sake! Madness, madness….

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    1. I know, right – I hadn’t even thought of that until I read your comment regarding the amusement park rides. It’s obvious from my posts, I like guns, I like shooting guns & I am responsible with that activity. I also respect those who don’t & I don’t think they are wrong. Some smoke, some don’t. Some like raw oysters, some don’t. Different strokes for different folks.)

      BUT totally agree with you, DSS – madness, madness . . .
      Thanks for reading and commenting ☮

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      1. I grew up with guns, hunted every weekend, From the time I was 10 through adulthood I used many different calibers and types. But I don’t ever remember my father or uncles or brother or even friends in the family all WWII and Korean war vets, that called their guns, shotguns or rifles “weapons”. They were just guns and no one in our acquaintance had a fascination with them. Guns were just what we used (and still use) to hunt with and to shoot skeet with on occasion. As I look back now, the guys that really had to use their guns as “weapons” for protection and war, were the ones that were least fascinated by them. And never talked about what I realize now were most likely horrors that they just wanted to forget. I don’t worry about guns but I do worry about individuals that have a fascination with guns as weapons and appear to need them to increase their “macho-ism”. The bravest men I have every known, and I don’t know for sure but probably have medals to prove it but never showed them, didn’t act like that. They certainly wouldn’t have put an Uzi in my 10 or 11 year old hands.

        You always have great posts, you make me think about it, too.

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        1. SMILING big! 🙂 Thanks so much for the wonderful compliment, DSS!! That is always my goal – I truly don’t expect everyone to agree with me – sometimes my friends & family don’t – & that’s okay. BUT I do like to get people thinking . . . I must admit, I typically look at things 360 & even then I probably miss something – but I have always examined & often questioned the status quo or whatever else might be going on 😉 Has gotten me in trouble more than a few times, but has also gotten me many good things, too 🙂

          My husband always hunted & I worked in a real bad part of town when I was 18 & had to work late some nights, so that’s when I learned to shoot & responsibly carry. Then we lived in the middle of the woods for awhile & it was necessary to know how to shoot & we practiced a lot down by the barn. In the woods, we got food & there were snakes, black bears, coyotes, wild boars and bobcats (I believe – it was a smaller cat, I had seen a few that the neighbor shot because they were killing their livestock & they could hurt a child or adult). One of my best friends absolutely hates guns & is deathly afraid. Society – on the other hand – for so many reasons (violent video games, fear of safety, paranoia caused by political rhetoric, etc etc) seems to be out of control, even in the wake of all the gun tragedies (like at schools, theaters, malls, etc). Having said all that . . . I believe in the right to own guns, just have some common sense & be responsible.

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  7. Pardon – they let 10 year olds fire uzis? Wow ok, very different from Oz. Basically if you’re not a farmer, in the military or an officer of the law you don’t have a gun. If you do have a gun it stays locked at the shooting club [the only reason to have one] or in a secure location in your home that is approved by the police prior being able to keep it in the house legally. But that’s here and I understand that guns have been part of the US culture for too long to be handled in that way. You seem to have a good grasp on the responsibilities that come with owning weapons but I’m still more than just a tad freaked out by the idea that this poor girl will have to live with taking a life and the police think it’s not the parents fault as the range master should have known better. What 9 year old should be carrying/shooting/learning to shoot in a range environment. Sure I can understand target shooting with air rifles etc but anything other than that is just out and out wrong.

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    1. I know Jenni – I am heartbroken for that little girl. America does love their guns. Unfortunately, some of the mindsets are so vast regarding responsibility. Thanks so much for reading & commenting!

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  9. I am in the UK so our weapon laws are a lot more stringent than in the US. I personally dont think a child should shoot any weapon of any kind, 18 should be the minimum age (if it is to happen at all).

    From what I can tell the legal age for drinking in the US is 21, and yet a 9 y/o (sorry they changed it to 12 y/o now) can discharge a weapon… crazy.

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  10. Reblogged this on The Musings of My Mind and commented:
    I reblogging this because you expressed many things that are so relevant and so important.

    But I am also reblogging because I recently saw on Good Morning America a piece where the children of the instructor at the gun range wrote a letter to the little girl. In the letter they expressed that they held no ill feelings toward her and that they were praying for her. Those children are so in tune with knowing and understanding that this little girl will have to live with this tragedy for the rest of her life. The sad thing is, at this point nobody could even know how this tragic event will affect her life as she continues on her journey through life.

    The final thing that the instructor’s children said was that they wanted to meet the little girl and hug her and tell her that they loved her and forgave her for the tragic accident that took their father from them. How wonderful it is to know that there are still parents, teachers, and religious leaders that have touched those children’s lives and taught them the true meaning of love and forgiveness. The latest musing of my mind!!

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  11. I recently saw on Good Morning America a piece where the children of the instructor at the gun range wrote a letter to the little girl. In the letter they expressed that they held no ill feelings toward her and that they were praying for her. Those children are so in tune with knowing and understanding that this little girl will have to live with this tragedy for the rest of her life. The sad thing is, at this point nobody could even know how this tragic event will affect her life as she continues on her journey through life.

    The final thing that the instructor’s children said was that they wanted to meet the little girl and hug her and tell her that they loved her and forgave her for the tragic accident that took their father from them. How wonderful it is to know that there are still parents, teachers, and religious leaders that have touched those children’s lives and taught them the true meaning of love and forgiveness.

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