This event was at a gun club in Massachusetts.  Can someone tell me in what universe these people were living in to think that this was a good idea.  >:(

By DAVID BERGENGREN
dbergengren@repub.com

WESTFIELD - An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself with an automatic weapon at the Westfield Sportsman's Club on Furrowtown Road about 2 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Witnesses told police the boy, whose name was not released, lost control of a fully automatic UZI he was shooting under the supervision of range officers at the club "when the self-inflicted accidental shooting occurred.

He was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with serious head injuries. Police announced early Sunday evening that he had died.

Though Westfield police said, "it appears the incident was purely accidental," a combined investigation of local police and the office of Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett is underway.

"There's an investigation going on now involving both Westfield police and the state police assigned to my office," Bennett said Sunday night.

Asked to comment on the advisability of an 8-year-old shooting an automatic weapon, Bennett said, "Once we have more information on what happened and how it happened, we'll be in a position to make public statements (on the incident)."

Efforts to reach club officers for comment Sunday were unsuccessful.

Witnesses said the boy "was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury," police said in the statement they released.

He was conscious and lying on the ground at the shooting range with a wound to the right side of his head when police and emergency medical technicians arrived at the scene, police said.

After first aid was administered, the youth, accompanied by his father, was taken to the hospital, police said.

The size of UZIs vary. Police did not say which model of the weapon the boy was firing.The weapon was originally designed for use by the Israeli military.

Police declined to give the boy's hometown, other than to say it was not Westfield.

The Westfield Sportsman's Club, in association with COP Firearms & Training of Amherst, was conducting a machine gun shoot and firearms exposition this weekend, according to its promotional matrial for the event.

The advertisement includes the information that, "You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you."

Attendees under the age of 16 were admitted free, and free .22-caliber pistol and rifle shooting for adults and kids was offered, according to the promotional material.

The sportsman's club is a private, nonprofit organization incorporated in 1949 that has 375 acres with facilities that include eight firing ranges, as well as facilities for archery and fishing. As of July, it had nearly 1,200 members.

During a tour of the club in July, its officers pointed out the care taken to ensure safety at the firing ranges.

COP Firearms & Training operates machine gun shoots and provides firearms training and sales, as well as gunsmithing and other services.

Absolutely disgusting!  I'll bet you anything the idiotic parents will now try to sue  >:(

From what I understand dad was standing right there with him.  There was another report about a similar function at a gun club in New Hampshire where they were encouraging children this young to try out automatic weapons.  I have been to gun clubs, and have taken a gun safety course, and in my opinion many of the people involved in them are frustrated Terminator wannabes.  I would go on to say anyone with any sense would realize that the kickback from this type of weapon could be dangerous even in the hands of a trained person.  If a so called trained person put this weapon in the hands of an eight year old the he should be prosecuted for criminal negligence.  The parents will have to live with themselves and that is punishment enough.

I don't think it's punishment enough.  They gave an 8 year old a loaded gun!!!!  I'm not really interested in whatever the "trained person" said to these morons to convince them that it would be fine for an 8 year old to handle a weapon.  That old saying "If someone jumps off a bridge, would you let your kids do it?" comes to mind.  I don't find this to be an accident.  Everyone involved is negligent.

Think of it as natural selection in action - if the parents manage to kill off all their offspring by letting them handle guns, then it's got to be worth a whole new section of Darwin awards...

I think kids should learn about guns and fire guns to take away their mystery and awe but a kid should never shoot a gun they cannot handle. An automatic weapon is too much gun for a kid.  Little kids should start off on little guns and the adult should  always handle the weapon.

Why the HELL would you let an 8 year old handle an Uzi?

http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images2/darwin.jpg

...approves.

(I was going to go with "FLAWLESS VICTORY", but that's reserved for situations in which the Darwin Award winner manages to take out his still-capable-of-breeding parents in the process.)

Such a useless tragedy.. waste of a young life. What were they thinking letting an 8 yr old handle an Uzi? >:( What possible use could one be other than killing people anyway? And I thought they were illegal.

Think of it as natural selection in action - if the parents manage to kill off all their offspring by letting them handle guns, then it's got to be worth a whole new section of Darwin awards...


I thought of the Darwin awards earlier this month when I was reading about a two-year-old who shot himself with his father's handgun.  In court his mother said something like "when I saw him pick the gun up I told him to put it down".  Like a toddler listens to that sort of thing.  ::)

btw both these children were from Connecticut. Should I be worried?  :-\\

I thought of the Darwin awards earlier this month when I was reading about a two-year-old who shot himself with his father's handgun.  In court his mother said something like "when I saw him pick the gun up I told him to put it down".  Like a toddler listens to that sort of thing.   ::)

btw both these children were from Connecticut. Should I be worried?  :-\\
Technically, you're not actually "from" Connecticut, so you should be safe.  As a precaution however, you should remove all weapons from your home  ;) :)

Technically, you're not actually "from" Connecticut, so you should be safe.  As a precaution however, you should remove all weapons from your home  ;) :)


She's not from Connecticut but she is in Connecticut, I am always apprehensive of Conecticut people, myself

You know when we first moved here Dai and I agreed we wouldn't let the children have a play date at anyone's house unless we'd met the parents and checked them out a little.  Guns around the house is one thing we are worried about.

I saw this in the local papers yesterday.  Westfield's pretty close to home.  My reaction was much the same as that of others here.  Who the hell lets an eight-year-old fire an Uzi?  WTF is wrong with you people!?
>:(

The Darwin Awards don't apply here as I don't expect a child of eight to know better, especially when several adults are supervising him.  I would have been too afraid of an Uzi to try it out at that age, but this kid was growing up in a gun-fun culture.  I do remember my friend's father used to let him fire a .22 at the local rifle range; however, a .22 pistol is quite a different machine!  If anybody showed up at that fish & game club with an Uzi, the state police would be there in half a minute!

The sick irony is you'd have to jump through a hundred bureaucratic hoops to own an Uzi in the state of Massachusetts, but any idiot with functional equipment can still make a child.  And now this child doesn't get to grow up!
::)

The Darwin Awards don't apply here as I don't expect a child of eight to know better, especially when several adults are supervising him.
The Darwin Award is for the parent who's so stupid he's removed his genes from the gene pool by letting his child get hold of that kind of toy... but to qualify, the kid would have needed to have shot something else off as well ;)

I saw this in the local papers yesterday.  Westfield's pretty close to home.  My reaction was much the same as that of others here.  Who the hell lets an eight-year-old fire an Uzi?  WTF is wrong with you people!?
>:(

The Darwin Awards don't apply here as I don't expect a child of eight to know better, especially when several adults are supervising him.  I would have been too afraid of an Uzi to try it out at that age, but this kid was growing up in a gun-fun culture.  I do remember my friend's father used to let him fire a .22 at the local rifle range; however, a .22 pistol is quite a different machine!  If anybody showed up at that fish & game club with an Uzi, the state police would be there in half a minute!

The sick irony is you'd have to jump through a hundred bureaucratic hoops to own an Uzi in the state of Massachusetts, but any idiot with functional equipment can still make a child.  And now this child doesn't get to grow up!
::)



I'm in Mass. and a friend of mine wanted a Class III, and the police chief was pretty much opposed 100%.  That's the license you need for one of these.  To meet the requirements was insane to begin with, but the local chief gets final say.

I could see letting a kid hold something like that, with the parent holding it as well.  Like a kid sitting on your lap while driving down a road.  Letting the kid fire on his own is insane.  Anyone whose fired anything with a lot of kick can tell you that it's hard for an adult to handle a weapon properly, a semi or full auto weapon is just asking for trouble.  My friend's wife bonked herself in the head when she fired a .45 for the first time.

The Globe has a headline about calling for another law.  Like that will help.  You can't legislate commonsense sometimes.

He was at some special machine gun expo

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-boyshot1028.artoct28,0,4711835.story

The Darwin Award is for the parent who's so stupid he's removed his genes from the gene pool by letting his child get hold of that kind of toy... but to qualify, the kid would have needed to have shot something else off as well ;)

They say seven is the age of reason, so at eight you're still in reason training.  It is reasonable at eight to trust the judgment of the grown-ups above your own.  Ten years down the road would this kid be as big of a moron as his dad?  We shall never know.
:(

I'm in Mass. and a friend of mine wanted a Class III, and the police chief was pretty much opposed 100%.  That's the license you need for one of these.  To meet the requirements was insane to begin with, but the local chief gets final say.

I could see letting a kid hold something like that, with the parent holding it as well.  Like a kid sitting on your lap while driving down a road.  Letting the kid fire on his own is insane.  Anyone whose fired anything with a lot of kick can tell you that it's hard for an adult to handle a weapon properly, a semi or full auto weapon is just asking for trouble.  My friend's wife bonked herself in the head when she fired a .45 for the first time.

The Globe has a headline about calling for another law.  Like that will help.  You can't legislate commonsense sometimes.

That's always the answer in this state. More laws! More laws!  Our legislators assume we're all as dumb as the dumbest amongst us.  Well, maybe they're right.  We're the ones who sent those clowns to Beacon Hill in the first place!

On the other hand, this incident doesn't instill much confidence in the gun-happy libertarians either. 
::)

They have toned down the fact that the event was sponsored by the COP Firearms and Training a company owned by the Chief of Police of Pelham Massachusetts, (seems like a conflict of interest to me).  The sights of Westfield Sportsmans Club and COP Firearms and Training have been removed from the internet.