Tuesday, October 28, 2008

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...............