Eight-year-old shoots self with Uzi, dies

[Twila]

Here in my neighbourhood, a 13yr old boy died after being shot with a pellet gun.

The article here is a bit old. He HAS passed away.

CTV.ca | Pellet gun victim remains on life support: Police

 

[Praxius]

The 8 year old boy was apparently very familiar with firing guns (handguns and rifles), this was his first step up to an automatic weapon though. That said, it is one of the lighter automatic weapons as it has very little recoil.

Funny, I don't remember reading or hearing of any sources claiming his experience in firearms.

The father wasn't some "gun loving hick" but a head doctor at a local hospital.

Good, now he can check his son's head and figure out what went wrong. Oh yeah... a bullet went wrong.

Quite frankly, this was just a freak accident, up there in terms of likelyhood as being struck by lightning while walking in the rain.

If you have no experience in operating or controlling a paticular firearm, the chances are a hell of a lot greater then lightning. If in the hands of a trained expert, you might be correct in comparison.

Sorry, but I don't trust 8 year old kids with guns..... I don't even trust 17 year old kids with guns.... they seem to have a tendancy of shooting their classmates.

 

[karrie]

I once saw a friend stuff a hard little blueberry (we were all out picking with the families) into the air rifle his parents let him pack around everywhere. He had decided it would be neat to see it splatter. Problem was, he figured his skin was stronger than the berry+velocity, and that it would splatter if he shot himself in the leg with it.

Ugh.

Blood and blueberry everywhere.

What goes through the brains of adolescent boys sometimes is beyond me.

 

[karrie]

The 8 year old boy was apparently very familiar with firing guns (handguns and rifles), this was his first step up to an automatic weapon though. That said, it is one of the lighter automatic weapons as it has very little recoil.

The father wasn't some "gun loving hick" but a head doctor at a local hospital. Quite frankly, this was just a freak accident, up there in terms of likelyhood as being struck by lightning while walking in the rain.

you don't have to a 'hick' as you suggest, to let your hobbies override your common sense.

 

[Twila]

What goes through the brains of adolescent boys sometimes is beyond me.

Testosterone mostly. It causes attention deficit, an inabiliyt to listen to certain voices/sounds, inability to see reason/logic or ability to understand ones own limits.

 

[karrie]

Testosterone mostly. It causes attention deficit, an inabiliyt to listen to certain voices/sounds, inability to see reason/logic or ability to understand ones own limits.

lol... yes, I would have to agree.

 

[Praxius]

Praxius said

No Praxius.....there are several times more firearms than swimming pools in the USA........about one per person. Therefore, statistically, guns are much safer than pools, no matter how you cut it.

That makes no sense unless you expect the pools to decide to uprise against humanity and try and drown us.

The quantity of pools has nothing to do with it, and that's not even my point.... it's the amount of usage of pools compared to the amount someone may use a firearm.

A pool is perfectly safe if nobody uses it, just as a firearm is perfectly safe if nobody uses it.... no matter how many there are.

I lived in a family swimming in guns .............we used them a lot.........I was president of a gun club.........trainer for an armoured car company..........gun and hunting safety instructor......and I know no person that has ever been injured accidentally with a firearm.....not one.

Really? I know of one police officer who was a friend of the family who lost three fingers during a range exercise..... my dad's best friend who was just a few feet from him, got shot by some idiot while out hunting.... they were wearing bright orange and you sure as hell couldn't mistake them for a deer..... he hasn't been able to walk since that incident and was the reason why my dad no longer hunts..... my father who had a similar background as yourself.... was in the military, used firearms a lot, trained the forces on how to use each firearm in the military, trained hunters for their safety courses, big into WWII collectibles, etc. etc.

And for him, who used to enjoy hunting every chance he could get.... to suddenly just quit it and never go back for 20 some odd years now since his friend was shot by some moron..... well.... I guess having those personal experiences in your life may change your perspective.

It certainly did for me..... After that moment, I was brought up to not think of firearms as a tool or a toy.... they are not simple "Fun" they are not for everybody..... they are a weapon designed to kill and should be treated as such.

If I have a child and they are interested in operating/owning a firearm, they'll be going through some very strict instructions on their operation and certainly will not be getting anything more powerful then a pellet gun until they hit 16 years of age or show a reasonable level of responsibility in operating one.