It was tongue in cheek my friend, no apology required. Actually although I'm a Brit I'm resident in the United Arab Emirates.

As for the British press being unbiased? I don't know really. I honestly don't think they are anti gun biased, whenever the latest US high school shooting occurs the press doesn't drag out the same old rhetoric. If some kid goes crazy with a gun it's accepted that possessing or getting access to a gun is not really the issue.

There are certain (perhaps large) sections of the population and press that in some way applaud someone defending themselves against some crack head given the perception in England that the UK government does more for the criminal than the victim. But that's another subject, my points were not about the right to defend one's property or bear arms but rather the pointlessness and danger of allowing children to use guns.

In Britain the press is far more interested in the current epidemic of knife crime! About 25 teenagers have been stabbed to death in London alone this year. There's a lot about it on the BBC site.

 

As is frequently the case,American and British wit and humor, regularly get misinterpreted traveling across the pond.......
my point was only meant to reflect the fact that we do have far more firearms here in the US,and so its likely that more idiots have access to them than in England,and so we have greater odds here that our children will encounter guns,so we would rather there first gun encounter be in a safe,controlled,adult supervised environment.......

 

Now don't take this wrong because I agree with you that the media is having a field day with this issue AND it has reignited the gun ban debate in the area.

But, here is the basics of what happened: A guy took his 11 year old and eight year old to a local gun club that was having a "Pumpkin Shoot" where full-auto "Rock and Roll" was offered, according to the ads for the event. The guy (a doctor) let his eight year old fire the mini-Uzi on full auto. The dad and the instructor were apparently a few feet away. The gun climbed on the kid and he shot himself in the head. He later died.

Those are the facts and noone involved is denying that is what happened. The facts alone are enough to get the anti-gunners rabid with excitement. Sarah Brady has a new posterchild for banning guns.

I'm all for teaching kids at a young age about gun safety and proper handling. I've had the talk with my soon to be six year old about not touching guns if he sees one, etc. When I think he is ready (six, seven, I don't know), I will teach him proper handling. But, I'll start with a non-firing replica and the first thing he ever fires will be a BB gun and we'll progress from there. His first shooting experience WON'T be a friggin' UZI.....

And before anyone thinks of bashing me for sounding anti-gun, forget it. I've owned my whole life, shoot for fun regularly, have a CCL and was once upon a time the only fully licensed (Fed and State) gun dealer/ammo dealer/gunsmith in the city I lived in. I'm certainly not anti-gun. I AM anti people doing stupid things with guns and getting people killed causing me to lose rights and priveleges.

 

A doctor,wow! im sorry for the kid,and for the trashing that responsible gun owners,manufacturers,and gun clubs will receive in the wake of this.......Had the gun instead turned and the only victims been the doctor and instructor,its a cold hearted thing to say,but frankly those two idiots would have gotten what they deserved for there reckless actions....... You dont sound like an anti-gunner to me,you sound like you have an anti-stupid philosophy...

 

I've been shooting since before I remember, definatly before I was 8. You can have your opinion, but thank God you weren't my Dad. My kids will start young too.

See, it's one thing to teach them to not touch. But making things off- limits just makes little boys more curious, even when the punishment is not being able to sit for about a month. I learned to take every gun my Dad owned apart by the time I was 6, so had I ever run across a loaded handgun in a drawer at a friends house and that idiot kid decided to play with it, I was knowledgeable enough to not just "Not touch" but to open it and empty it, then go tell his Dad to beat his rear.

I think this is usually decided on a state level, and usually coincides with the legal age to purchase the gun. So I think you can posses any type of gun at any age, but you can't carry it legally unless you are the age you need to purchase it (unless you're supervised or hunting or stuff like that). That would make the most sense to me.

 

I can't add much more, other than this. Eight years old might have been too young for a full-auto, but that's not really the issue. The issue is the judgment of whether or not that particular kid could handle the weapon he was firing. An Uzi has a short barrel, plus the barrel line is pretty high above the forearm line, two factors which contribute immensely to muzzle flip--not to be confused with recoil, which is the straight-back force. (Recoil plus the factors above leads to muzzle flip). In full-auto mode, a lot of muzzle flip will result in climb. The parent (or the Uzi owner) should have known this and suggested something like an M16 for a full-auto run by the boy. If the boy was an somewhat experienced shooter, he would probably still have had muzzle climb with an M16, but it would have stayed out in front of him, and the M16 would be easier to bring under control by a supervisor.

Personally, I would have been wrapped around the kid while he fired--no solo full-auto shooting for someone that small. My boys (now almost 9 and 7) both fired a .22 by the time they were 4 or 5. I only regret that I haven't gotten out shooting with them much since. But they will be drilled on gun safety before they are out the door as adults.

1. All guns are loaded
2. Don't point the gun at anything you don't intend to destroy
3. Straight trigger finger

Jason

 

That about sums it up right there. We all know how well "don't touch" works when it comes to teenagers...

Jason

 

In reply to gashead, I was taught (started anyway) the ins and outs of hunting starting around 4 or 5, which includes weapon safety starting with a bow in my hands but also about firearms. This is not to say that I paraded through the glades with a rifle on my back nor could my bow do much more damage than poke someones eye out. The fact remains that I am better off for having that type of instruction and responsible leadership from the beginning.

I helped my dad rebuild an old 426 hemi when I was about 5 too...even though I just handed him wrenches...what does 5/8 mean again LOL