Gun instructor killed while showing 9-year-old girl how to use an Uzi

[GandD 5,966]

I personally have no problem with a passing some type of test and having required training in order to purchase a gun. A lot of the gun owners on this site will disagree with me about that. Owning a gun is a big responsibility, and some people cannot handle it.

I can't drive a tractor trailer without passing a Class A test, I can't sell real estate without a license- and even with a license I have to take continuing ed classes every 2 years in order to renew my license. Ditto for my construction supervisor license. Even to renew my drivers license I must pass a simple eye test. But all those things are privileges, not rights.

I said that it was possible for anyone to have a problem with full auto muzzle rise until they were prepared for it. The instructor fvcked up royally. His hands should have been on the gun. Ditto for an adult firing for the first time. Society didn't allow the girl to fire the Uzi, mommy and daddy did.

Yeah but the 2nd amendment makes it more difficult. Its like saying someone would have to pass a test before they could exercise their right to free speech. Which actually might not be such a bad thing

[Teddy B 17,252]

Because you always bring making new laws into the discussion while not acknowledging that the current laws aren't enforced properly and that proper enforcement would go a long way toward achieving your desired objective.

Then people need to band together and get politicians in office in each state who will fight for these knew laws. Remember, licensing is up to the individual state.

Yes, if we had proper enforcement of current laws, that would go a long way in reaching that objective. But that does not make putting some new sensible laws on the books a useless effort. Most people DO follow the law.

Ok, I'm done with guns for this week. It's Miller Time! You got any plans for the long weekend? Wifey and I are headed to Gloucester for the day tomorrow. Then I'm gonna cook a rotisserie chicken on the grill Sunday.

[Robby999 1,024]

They get trained in a different way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx1LtfHFCoY

I know! Some dads teach their kids to hunt and fish and some dads teach their kids other stuff! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11025803/Australian-PM-denounces-image-of-seven-year-old-boy-holding-a-severed-head-as-barbaric.html

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Yes, if we had proper enforcement of current laws, that would go a long way in reaching that objective. But that does not make putting some new sensible laws on the books a useless effort. Most people DO follow the law.

Ok, I'm done with guns for this week. It's Miller Time! You got any plans for the long weekend? Wifey and I are headed to Gloucester for the day tomorrow. Then I'm gonna cook a rotisserie chicken on the grill Sunday.

There are sensible laws now that aren't enforced, so you're losing me on how adding more laws is going to achieve what you hope to. The problem is seldom the people who follow the law. It's those who don't and I'm guessing they won't follow the new ones either. Solving the child shooting in this topic falls squarely in the lop of her parents first, shooting instructor second.

If you really want to get things in the world under control, require training, background checks, psychological evaluations and licensing in order to have children. Problem solved. Right now all a male needs to do is stick the gun in his pants in the target of a female, and poof! Life is created. Why no laws governing that?

Edited August 29, 2014 by spookyturtle

[spookyturtle 9,466]

A few words from the family of the victim and a bit more information.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The accidental killing of a firing range instructor by a 9-year-old girl learning to shoot an Uzi unleashed a storm of criticism and anger, with much of it aimed at her parents.

But the ex-wife and children of instructor Charles Vacca say they harbor no ill feelings toward the girl and her family. Instead, they feel sorry for the child and want to write her a letter to comfort her.

"That's truly how we feel," Vacca's ex-wife, Anamarie, told The Associated Press by phone.

Charles Vacca was standing next to the girl when she squeezed the trigger at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Arizona, about 60 miles south of Las Vegas.

The recoil wrenched the Uzi upward, and the 39-year-old Vacca was fatally shot once in the head.

Anamarie Vacca said she has not spoken to the girl or her parents since the accident Monday, but her children want to write the letter, "knowing their family has to grieve through the same process."

The identities of the girl and her family have not been released.

"I know we're going to let her know to not revolve her life around it," Anamarie Vacca said about the accident.

The family first talked about their feelings toward the girl on NBC's "Today" show.

Groups seeking to reduce gun violence have said it was reckless to let the girl handle such a powerful weapon and are calling for tighter regulations regarding children and guns.

Sam Scarmardo, who operates the outdoor shooting range in the desert, has said the parents had signed waivers saying they understood the rules and were standing nearby, video-recording their daughter, when the accident happened.

Investigators released 27 seconds of the footage showing the girl from behind as she fires at a black-silhouette target. The footage, which does not show the instructor actually being shot, helped feed the furor on social media and beyond.

Prosecutors say they do not plan to file charges.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/08/29/victims-family-feels-sorry-for-girl-who-shot-uzi/20954792/?icid=maing-grid7|maing10|dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D522814

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

how'd you get that picture of me!

That is SO MANY of us on here it's not even funny.

[Curmudgeon 227]

A few words from the family of the victim and a bit more information.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The accidental killing of a firing range instructor by a 9-year-old girl learning to shoot an Uzi unleashed a storm of criticism and anger, with much of it aimed at her parents.

But the ex-wife and children of instructor Charles Vacca say they harbor no ill feelings toward the girl and her family. Instead, they feel sorry for the child and want to write her a letter to comfort her.

"That's truly how we feel," Vacca's ex-wife, Anamarie, told The Associated Press by phone.

Charles Vacca was standing next to the girl when she squeezed the trigger at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Arizona, about 60 miles south of Las Vegas.

The recoil wrenched the Uzi upward, and the 39-year-old Vacca was fatally shot once in the head.

Anamarie Vacca said she has not spoken to the girl or her parents since the accident Monday, but her children want to write the letter, "knowing their family has to grieve through the same process."

The identities of the girl and her family have not been released.

"I know we're going to let her know to not revolve her life around it," Anamarie Vacca said about the accident.

The family first talked about their feelings toward the girl on NBC's "Today" show.

Groups seeking to reduce gun violence have said it was reckless to let the girl handle such a powerful weapon and are calling for tighter regulations regarding children and guns.

Sam Scarmardo, who operates the outdoor shooting range in the desert, has said the parents had signed waivers saying they understood the rules and were standing nearby, video-recording their daughter, when the accident happened.

Investigators released 27 seconds of the footage showing the girl from behind as she fires at a black-silhouette target. The footage, which does not show the instructor actually being shot, helped feed the furor on social media and beyond.

Prosecutors say they do not plan to file charges.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/08/29/victims-family-feels-sorry-for-girl-who-shot-uzi/20954792/?icid=maing-grid7|maing10|dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D522814

What's sad is that we live in a society in the US that believes that wanting a 9 year old to handle such a weapon is desirable. Everyone involved is now irrevocably locked in cycle of tragedy. The girl can't help but be affected by the fact that she killed an adult, a peer, someone she probably liked. Why would anyone put a child so young in the position where this is even possible is what surprises me more than anything. Should it be against the law? I don't think it matters much one way or the other in terms of how the child will be treated, and rightly so but it's this attitude that it's desirable that I find incredibly disturbing. People bang on about their rights, but, seriously, she's 9, she's go a life times burden because her parents thought it would be 'fun' to give the child lessons in using a weapon that she had no business laying her hands on for any reason whatsoever. The child got no ego kick from handling the Uzi I am sure she would have been just as thrilled learning to shoot accurately a pellet gun, it was the parents that did and that's just morally bankrupt.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

What a sad a strange society we live in that I read that and my only real thought is "AOL?? They are still around?"