Boy, 8, Killed in Gun Show Accident

[cathryn]

http://news.aol.com/article/boy-8-killed-in-gun-show-accident/226339

Boy, 8, Killed in Gun Show Accident
By SUSAN HAIGH, AP

WESTFIELD, Mass. (Oct. 27) - With an instructor watching, an 8-year-old boy at a gun fair aimed an Uzi at a pumpkin and pulled the trigger as his dad reached for a camera.

It was his first time shooting a fully automatic machine gun, and the recoil of the weapon was too much for him. He lost control and fatally shot himself in the head.

Now gun safety experts — and some gun enthusiasts at the club where the shooting happened — are wondering why such a young child was allowed to fire a weapon used in war. Local, state and federal authorities are also investigating whether everyone involved had proper licenses or if anyone committed a criminal act.

"It's easy to lose control of a weapon like that ... they are used on a battleground for a very good reason," said Jerry Belair, a spokesman for Stop Handgun Violence, based in Newton, Mass. "It's to shoot as many times as you possibly can without having to reload at an enemy that's approaching. It's not a toy. It's not something to play with."

Police said Christopher Bizilj (Bah-SEAL) of Ashford, Conn., was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., on Sunday afternoon, shortly after firing a 9mm micro Uzi submachine gun at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, co-sponsored by C.O.P. Firearms & Training.

"The weapon was loaded and ready to fire," Westfield police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. "The 8-year-old victim had the Uzi and as he was firing the weapon, the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head."
Nunez said the investigation is continuing.

Christopher, a third-grader, was attending the show with his father and sixth-grade brother, Colin. Christopher had fired handguns and rifles before, but Sunday was his first time firing an automatic weapon, said his father, Charles Bizilj.

Bizilj told the Boston Globe he was about 10 feet behind his son and reaching for his camera when the weapon fired. He said his family avoided the larger weapons, but he let his son try the Uzi because it's a small weapon with little recoil.

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

Police are calling the shooting an accident but are investigating whether everyone connected with the incident had proper weapons permits. Massachusetts requires licenses to own firearms, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issues different licenses to possess machine guns.

The machine gun shoot drew hundreds of people from as far away as Maine and Virginia. An advertisement said it would include machine gun demonstrations and rentals and free handgun lessons.

"It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site.
"You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you. But You Are In Control — "FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL," the ad said.

The ad also said children under 16 would be admitted free, and both adults and children were offered free .22-caliber pistol and rifle shooting.

Massachusetts has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and they are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Nunez said. The name of the instructor who was with the boy at the time was not released.

"We do not know at this time the full facts of this incident," Nunez said Monday.


what ,if any ramifications do you think this incident might have when it comes to our right to bear arms?

[FinsnFur]

Seen that on the news also.
Sad to say the least.

[slagmaker]

Saw that on foxnews.
Man what a tragedy.
My prayers go out to the family and everyone involved.

[HaMeR]

Irresponsible parenting will ruin this for us all. 

[vvarmitr]

Wow, what a tragedy!  So very sad?

Irresponsible parenting ...

Can you explain? 

[Jerry Hunsley]

Why in the world would you even be allowed to have a loaded gun at a gun show. Ridiculous , and now the anti's will pick up on this. Of course I feel bad for the family, but my God, someone wasn't thinking there. A terrible tradgedy for everyone. 

[slagmaker]

From what I have read it sounds like precautions were taken. I mean instructors were there, he had adult supervision, he was at a licensed firing range. It looks like he simply was not prepaired for the power of a fully automatic firearm. From statments made he had used firearms before. How large was the boy? was he big or small for his age? Did he fire off a round to get a feel for the kick of the firearm he was using? There are a lot of variables that can come to play in this kind of accident.

We wernt there so will we ever know exectally what happened?

Still it is a tragic event that will defenetly have reprecusions for the entire shooting world.

[bushmaster]

I was on the phone with a friend who was standing there when it happened.  Couldn't believe it.  I think a single shot .22 one on one with a responsible adult is ample firepower for an 8 year old.

[HaMeR]

Christopher had fired handguns and rifles before, but Sunday was his first time firing an automatic weapon, said his father, Charles Bizilj.

Bizilj told the Boston Globe he was about 10 feet behind his son and reaching for his camera when the weapon fired.

Apparently a picture was more important than making certain his son would be OK.  Just the way I see it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[slagmaker]

Apparently a picture was more important than making certain his son would be OK.  Just the way I see it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Cant agree with you more on that one. No mattter the boys experience/abalitys no one should have taken there eyes off that boy, especially his father, then the instructor.

[Hawks Feather]

Jerry,

I was like you in thinking that the accident had happened at a gun show, but if you go to the article you find "With a gun instructor and his father looking on, 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj died when he lost control of an Uzi gun he was firing at a Massachusetts gun club. He accidentally shot himself in the head when the weapon recoiled. Police are investigating the accident."  I could be wrong, but from reading this I don't think it is what most of us would consider a normal gun show.

It is tragic whenever anyone, especially a youth, loses his/her life in a firearm related accident.  It just gives non-shooters more to say is wrong with anyone having a firearm.

Jerry

[KySongDog]

It wasn't a gun show.  It was a shoot, kinda like the big machine gun shoot they have every year at Knob Creek Gun Club near Louisville. 

It is a real sad situation.  The boys father is a doctor and should know better.  Standing 10 feet away is too far when talking about an 8 year old and a full auto UZI.   The range officer may be in for some legal troubles as well.

Very sad indeed. 

[pitw]

That is a terrible tradgedy and now the one's who are left have to deal with it the rest of their lives.  Kids are kids and need to be treated as such.  I spend as much time hunting and fishing with my boy's as is possible.  They are allowed to watch me shoot the bigger gun's and they can wish to shoot themall they want, but until they are strong/smart enough to control them they won't shoot them.

[bushmaster]

Im with you on this one ^^^