WTF, America?
Let me see if I can follow this logic. We make laws to protect our children. They must be in carseats and seat belts. We bubble wrap every pointy surface in our home while they're learning to walk. We gate the staircases and we latch the cupboards. We buy bike helmets, elbow pads, wrist guards, knee pads, mouth guards, shin guards, life vests, floaties, and more. We can't leave them home alone or at the park or in the car for any period of time without being accused of abuse. We can't swear in front of them without someone calling the cops. We don't allow them to drive cars or vote until they're teenagers. We don't let alcohol touch their lips until they're young adults.
BUT we see nothing wrong with putting an UZI in the hands of a nine-year-old kid?????
Who thought this was a good idea? Someone did apparently.
I'm assuming it was this child's parents. They took her to a place called Bullets and Burgers. A fine looking establishment whose logo consists of a burger hanging out behind a large caliber gun that offers a shooting experience paired with dinner. Because nothing says "Family Fun Night" like squeezing off a few hundred rounds with greasy bacon burger fingers.
They paid for an instructor to teach her how to shoot an Uzi. For one reason or another, the instructor thought it was a good idea to let this little girl try and shoot the Uzi on full automatic mode. She, of course, could not handle the recoil of the weapon and she fatally wounded him. That's right. He's dead. And now for the rest of her life, this little girl must carry around the guilt that she killed someone.
This is not a gun rights issue, this is a stupidity issue. I feel badly for the man who lost his life and I'm sorry for his family. I'm irritated with Bullets and Burgers for allowing anyone to purchase this "experience" for a nine-year-old kid. And I'm furious with the parents of this girl for ruining her life. I don't care if Uzis are legal to shoot and carry. I don't care if you've got one in the trunk of your car or under your bed. I care that this is a dangerous weapon that adults have a hard time handling. This isn't a little .22 rifle that you shoot squirrels with. This is an Israeli sub machine gun that is used in wars. This gun is designed to kill. I care when supposedly responsible adults decide that it's a great idea to let a nine-year-old shoot one. I have no idea if the child asked or if the parents offered, it doesn't matter to me. All I know is it should have never happened. This kid should have just finished her milkshake, watched her parents shoot a few guns, and then head back home.
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36 comments:
I don't get it. If my son wants some high adrenaline family fun, we go to Chuck E Cheese and play skee ball next to a toddler followed up with a trip into the Ebola ball pit breeding ground. It has never crossed my mind to go on down to the range and let him try out a cannon or test drive a tank. He's only 6 though.
We are going to play toss the grenade with the kids this weekend.
The "parents" need to lose custody of all their children. The place needs to be shut down.
At the shooting range down by me the Minimum age is thirteen (13) years and be accompanied by a supervising adult whilst on range who is responsible for their safety and conduct. Oh and I am in Australia and they also have a no rapid firing rule which I assume rules out Uzi's!
Yeah, that's CLEARLY the best way to remedy this situation: make sure everyone's lives are ruined, and heap even more sadness onto this little girl.
I was rendered speechless for about 5 minutes. While thinking about this I got so sick to my stomach. This poor child. I can't imagine what she'll have to go through to be able to live a somewhat "normal" (and I quote that because what the hell is normal? ) life.
Like kherbert said, they should lose custody of all their children.
I also think these so called parents should face some charges. Child endangerment, some kind of link to a murder charge. I won't keep going; mostly because it's late and my spelling suffers to the point auto correct doesn't even know what I'm trying to say.
Do you think the parents of this little girl should be allowed to remain the custodians of her and any sibling?
I agree that the parents made an incredibly bad choice to let their kid participate but the fault also lies with the gun range. Maybe the parents did not truly recognize the power of this gun. Surely, the gun range did and should not have allowed this to happen. Amusement parks set safety standards for rides--the gun range failed to protect their employee and customers.
WTF does a 9 year old need to learn how to use an Uzi for? Are we in Africa? Has the zombie apocalypse started? Aliens? What? *face palm*
At the VERY least, this gun range needs to be shut down and an investigation in the state needs to be done on the laws for allowing a child have their hands on ANY weapon. Putting a fully automatic weapon in the hands of a 9 year old is just insane. Most 200+ pound men in the military haven't even shot a gun like this. And the recoil probably throws them in their A$$e$ too!!! I'm not sure what was going through the parent's heads when they made this BAD decision, but it should have been stopped by the range employees. At the range we go to, you have to be 13 years old to even enter the building and then you have to be accompanied by your legal guardian. There are alot of rules even if you fit into those categories. Which, rightfully so! GUNS ARE NOT TOYS. GUNS ARE NOT TOYS!!!!!!!
Back in my day, the only proper roadside attraction for kids was the "wrassle a live bear" cage. And we bugged our parents relentlessly to let us do it during our vacations down south, because you couldn't find a good bear wrasslin' place in Jersey.
Seriously, though, among the many shocking aspects of this story, the one that truly floored me was the policy change that Bullets and Burgers made after this horrific incident. Rather than putting restrictions on who can shoot an Uzi, or restricting the use of the 'automatic' function, they now have limited shooting to kids 12 and over, or those above 5 feet tall.
Maybe the child's height had something to do with the trajectory of the gun after the recoil, but that's not the real issue here, Mr. Bullets and Burgers. It's the AUTOMATIC function on the gun. How about restricting THAT?
Um....Jana - you know an Uzi will do no good in a zombie apocalypse, right?
I could not agree more
They wanted their daughter to learn about guns, and she learned the number one lesson: guns kill. This is a heartbreaking lesson that will stick with this family for their lifetimes.
Jen is right. This is stupidity plain and simple. The instructor should have known better. He is the one who was negligent and unfortunately he paid with his life. It is a sad situation all around.
The douchecanoe who runs the place was on the news today talking about the kids birthday party package they offer! Can you imagine multiple 9 year old all hopped up on sugar and soda and excited for a birthday party with automatic weapons in their hands? I hosted a birthday party sleep over for my 10 year old daughter and 4 friends this weekend. I was hesitant to let them do a scavenger hunt around our neighborhood unsupervised so I hired a local teenager to walk with them to ensure in the excitement of the party they looked both ways crossing the street, etc. Firearms is a whole new level of danger! I am clearly not as open minded and "free range" as I thought!
Whatever the FUCK happened to things like NORMAL adrenaline-ridden fun like Chuck E. Cheese (mentioned in another comment above) or roller-skating/skateboard/bike?? OR, how about a Wii shooting game instead of a DEADLY WEAPON in your kid's hands. All I can think, like many of us, is that POOR KID! I do feel bad for that guy's family but why wouldn't he have been smarter about the whole thing? I mean, he could have refused OR better-helped that poor kid use the weapon correctly... :/ Really, I just can't...
As a European I always struggle with the guns thing in general, and any parent that happily puts a gun in the hands of their children, let alone one of those, makes sirens go off in my head. I can't really blame the establishment for offering a service that people obviously want, we are responsible for our own actions!
Why couldn't you blow off their heads?
You just expressed everything I have been thinking since I heard about the incident. It is a disgusting and horrible situation that will never be able to be rectified. I can't imagine the amount of therapy that poor girl is going to need...
This is just sickening.
Bullets & Burgers WTF? Such a very sad story.
I was probably about 9 when my friend's dad helped us learn how to safely shoot rifles at cans in his backyard under his guidance, and only after making sure we could handle the weight, etc. But an UZI? Jesus.
My heart breaks for this girl who is old enough to know what she did, but not old enough to know it's not totally her fault.
The parents were putting her in the hands of what I'm sure they thought was a certified instructor who knew what he was doing. Should they have double checked that? Obviously but they weren't abusive or neglectful...
So many times in life, just because you CAN do something, it doesn't mean that you SHOULD do something. The restaurant should not make an Uzi available for children to shoot. But the parents didn't have to choose that weapon. It's ultimately the parents' fault, because they are in charge of their child. I hope the child can eventually get over it, but I hope the parents, and the owners of the restaurant ,never do.
WTF indeed! Teaching a 9 yr. old to shoot?! Okay if you live where there's hunting, that's one thing- anywhere else- that is scary. Got me reeling... but I'm too tired to write more.
I think you are exaggerating the recoil of a 9mm Uzi. For a child, yes, and adult, not really https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QjPjBaZ3TUQ
Children and weapons don't mix. Would you hand a child some car keys and let them loose at NASCAR?? Horrible decision on everyone's part.
p.s. Thank you, Jesus, this was (surprisingly) not in Texas.
I feel so sick for this little girl. I have a 10-year-old, and when I think about this happening to her or one of her friends...ugh.
The guy? That's a tough one. I feel bad for his family. But he worked at Wackjob Wally World (who knows, maybe he had no choice because he couldn't find other employment). I just have a hard time feeling sorry for people who lament the loss of someone to a firearm in such a stupid way when the rest of us have been begging them to tone it down for so long.
Ok. O_0
Thank you! The dad is angry at the facility for allowing this to happen, but he was recording the whole thing! Come on, parents...
This situation was for sure a sad one, and unfortunate. There's no doubt about it! But please tell me what is wrong with educating children? They need to be taught, about everything, and unfortunately it requires a younger age these days than in the past. Just because ONE awful accident happened, does not mean that EVERYTHING needs to change. More precautions could have been taking, but by no means should anyone say the parents need to have their children ripped away from them. And who is one to judge how a family spends their time together, and what kind of FUN they can choose to have! That's the whole part about everyone being unique, and not fucking robots. We don't have to like the same things! MANY MANY more shootings happen and kill with children who are not educated on proper gun safety, than the very few incidents the news WANTS people to see.
My dad first taught me, about 9 years old, to shoot a pistol. We had to drive 3 hrs to his hunting lease the weekend before the start of season. He set 6 beer cans on a fence post, and let me shoot them off. Next I got the shotgun, with no mention of the recoil to knock my butt down. It is funny, and youtube is full of videos showing guys doing it to their girlfriends, etc. bc it is funny. But it is ONE shot, the gun is always pointed at the target when it's discharged. That's why you DONT USE AN AUTOMATIC WEAPON, FULLY LOADED WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE???? How many people can you blame here? Parents. Check. Instructor. Yep. Business. Absolutely. I can only pray this child will get the outside help she needs, and nothing like this happens again.
Melissa...I'm just wondering WHAT scenario calls for a 9 year old to be educated about Uzi's? Of COURSE people are entitled to engage in their OWN idea of fun but when it infringes on other peoples ability to LIVE it's a problem!
Exactly. The girl will clearly need therapy to deal with the fact that she blew somebody's head off before growing pubes but she will mainly need therapy for having been raised but such utter and complete douchebag fucktards.
This happened near where I live in Arizona. I agree the parents are at fault, and were stupid to allow their little girl to shoot that powerful of a gun. I have read all the articles on this, listened to the 911 recordings, and watched the video her parents were recording while she was with the instructor. They news people cut the video off right after the gun recoils and he is shot. If you would like, I can post the links to those. I feel for his family. His children wrote a letter to the girl, telling her they are not angry, and care about her very much. The video taped themselves reading it out loud. The business needs to make sure no child under a certain age, can shoot a gun as powerful and/or similar to an Uzi. It was/is a tragic event. And that little girl, her and her parents and siblings were vacationing from New Jersey I believe, will need a lot of counseling for years to come. I feel for her. She must be a mess. The poor baby. Her parents need to be horse-whipped. And I think business needs to be fined. Although his family is not pressing charges on her or her family, I think they should against the business. So sad.
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