the vote was 31 to 2

aren't you interested in who those 2 are? which two people think it's ok, think it's acceptable for someone UNDER 16 TO HAVE A MACHINE GUN? i'm guessing the dude mentioned at the very end of the article (click the link) is one of 'em. i am just sitting here shaking my head.

babies and machine guns. why is that acceptable to ANYONE?

are the 2 conspiracy theorists who think (like a bunch of wingnuts), the new president of color is a socialist with only one agenda - that is prying the guns out of your cold dead hands? i don't know but i'd certainly re-consider voting for ANYONE who doesn't have a problem with giving a minor a machine gun

Senate Passes Machine Gun Ban For Children
By CHRISTOPHER KEATING |The Hartford Courant
Prompted by the tragic death of an 8-year-old Connecticut boy at a Massachusetts gun club, the state Senate voted 31 to 2 Thursday afternoon to ban the transfer of a machine (gun) to anyone under 16.

The bill prohibits the physical transfer of such weapons to children - in response to the death of Christopher K. Bizilj, an Ashford boy who lost control of a Micro Uzi submachine gun and accidentally shot himself in the head in Massachusetts in late October.

The third-grade boy, who stood 4 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 66 pounds, could not control the recoil of the high-powered weapon. A Massachusetts grand jury has indicted a police chief, the gun club, and two Connecticut men in connection with the accident at the machine gun event in Westfield.

Both Republicans and Democrats described the measure as "common sense'' legislation, saying they believe that most citizens would be surprised that it was legal for minors to fire such a powerful weapon..........

a great courant editorial

of course i think ALL guns should be absolutely banned (except for law enforcement and the military) but i'm in the minority. i also read some of the comments on the article. some of them are just nasty lunatic fringe ugly evil spewing sickness comments.

we don't have militias (well, we do but most of THEM are lunatic fringe end of the world white supremacist types) and we do NOT need to bear arms

Machine Gun Ban For Youths Misses Big Picture
If legislators have their way, it will soon be illegal for anyone in Connecticut to hand a machine gun to a child younger than 16. That this even has to be spelled out in the statutes is testament to the pervasive power of our gun culture.

The proposal came out of a tragedy, as many laws do. Christopher K. Bizilj, 8, of Ashford, died last fall after losing control of a 9 mm Micro Uzi at a gun expo in Massachusetts. The boy shot himself in the head during "target practice" on a pumpkin while adults, who should have known better, looked on. What were they thinking when they put a lethal weapon that fires up to 1,700 rounds per minute in the hands of a 43-pound third-grader? This is wrong on so many levels that it boggles the mind.

No one outside the military, and possibly law enforcement, should be permitted to use a machine gun, least of all children. Sen. John Kissel felt compelled to defend his committee vote in favor of the age limit, saying it is "one of the few-and-far-between gun bills that I feel has an awful lot of merit."

You think?..........

because i feel so passionately about it

i'm going to come right out and say it:

i don't care if god herself told you it was ok for kids to fire uzis. IT'S NOT. IT'S NOT OK FOR A KID OF 8 TO HOLD OR FIRE AN UZI

2 plead not guilty inboy's Uzi death
Springfield, Mass. (AP) - Two men accused of providing machine guns to a show where an 8-year-old Connecticut boy fatally shot himself with an Uzi have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Attorneys for Carl Giuffre of Hartford, Conn., and Domenico Spano of New Milford, Conn., entered the pleas Monday after the men were excused from appearing in court in Springfield..

Hampden District Attorney William Bennett said the men brought the guns to the Westfield show in October after being wrongly assured by a show promoter that it was legal for children to use the Uzi under Massachusetts law.

you know i'm NOT going to link to the article directly

on second thought i AM going to link to the article directly. i really AM torn about this. i really DO have a heart and i really DO feel for the parents

this article, along with the other horrible tragedy that happened with a gun and a child from connecticut (within the past few months) are horror stories.

while discussing the first incident (the child found a gun in his parent's bedroom and shot and killed himself) with someone at work, my workmate felt the parents should not be (further) punished. they had suffered enough. while i agree there is no way i could possibly understand the suffering they must be going through, what they did by leaving a gun around was what i REALLY cannot understand even more.

now to have not only the people who were running this machine gun shoot ALLOW YOUNGSTERS TO FIRE THEM but having a parent (who is a doctor not jed clampett) ALLOW HIS 8 YEAR OLD SON to shoot that uzi................(don't need to finish my sentence)

here's the courant article

Boy Killed Firing Submachine Gun At Firearms Expo

By MARK SPENCER and DAVID OWENS
Eight-year-old Christopher Bizilj died after accidentally shooting himself in the head in what was supposed to be among the safest possible settings for youngsters to handle firearms.

The third-grader from Ashford, a well-liked "all-American boy," was attending a "Machine Gun Shoot & Firearms Expo" on Sunday at the long-established Westfield Sportsman's Club in Massachusetts. While shooting, he was supervised by a trained professional and within sight of his father, Dr. Charles Bizilj, the medical director of emergency and critical care at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford.

Yet something went horribly wrong.

What some, including a longtime club member and retired gun designer, found most startling was that the boy was firing a 9mm, Micro Uzi submachine gun, a weapon that weighs about 5 pounds and can fire 1,200 rounds a minute.
..................

and here's something from gun guys

Tragedy at Massachusetts Machine Gun Shoot

(We are pleased to include the following blog post from Freedom States Alliance affiliate, the New England Coalition To Prevent Gun Violence).

I think machine gun shoots are pathetic events.

Basically, it’s a bunch of guys who get together and blow things up. They are drawn by the chance to shoot a variety of fully automatic weapons at targets like cars (probably some sort of road rage release) and other things that look “cool” when they get shot and blow up.

While these gatherings strike me as both sad and silly I understand that they are legal and that there are men who get a thrill from the destructive power of firearms. These events will, no doubt, continue to take place across this county...............

An 8-Year-Old Unintentionally Killed Himself With A Fully Automatic Uzi At the Westfield Machine Gun Shoot — His Father, Present At the Shooting, Heads Emergency Medicine At Conn. Hospital