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Machine Guns and Kids: Should They Mix?

rscottie

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Came across this story today. I wonder why they don't print the same article when a football player dies in practice, "Football and Kids: Should They Mix?"

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/35632594.html

MINFORD, Ohio (WSAZ) -- Machine guns and kids -- they're two things many of us don't often put together.

But there are many gun-loving families throughout the region that start their children using firearms early and often. Following is the story of a tragedy at a recent machine gun shoot, as well as support of the Second Amendment -- the constitutional right to have and bear arms for Americans of any age.

The tragedy involved a child in a New England state during an organized machine gun shoot similar to one held in our area every summer.

At the annual southern Ohio machine gun shoot near Minford, Ohio, organizers encourage parents to bring children of all ages, saying they're never too young to experience the thrill of firing a machine gun.

"We want everyone to know that it can be done safely and competently," said Ralph Scott, the organizer of the local machine gun shoot.

At a recent Massachusetts machine gun shoot, 8-year-old Cristopher Bizilj accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi and died. The organizers of the shoot are facing manslaughter charges. Massachusetts law prohibits furnishing a machine gun to anyone younger than 18.

In Ohio, the law states that a child of any age can shoot a handgun, machine gun -- any gun, for that matter, under proper adult supervision.

"We have very liberal gun laws, as does West Virginia and Kentucky," Scott said. "Some states don't trust their citizens with guns."

Scioto County Sheriff Marti Donini said he took his teenage son to a southern Ohio machine gun shoot a few years ago.

"They showed him all the ways to hold and use the gun," Donini said."It was pretty well supervised."

When asked why let a child shoot a machine gun at all, Scott replied, "Why not? It's just an inanimate object. You don't just hand the car keys to a 16 year old and say have a nice day. You show them how to do it."

Scott said shooting guns isn't about age, it's about responsibility.
 

Flyer22

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I think part of the issue is that there is a disconnect between the legal definition of a machine gun and the popular image of one. I know that I personally always tend to think of something like an M60 when I think of "machine gun."
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m60-mg.jpg

Those are far safer for a child to shoot, simply because they're a lot heavier.

Regardless of legal definitions, I think that it's much more accurate to call Uzis and AKs "automatic rifles."
 

PT111

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, South Carolina, USA
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I really don't see any problems with the article and think it is much more objective than about any other I have read on it. My one comment is that if they are going to charge the operators of the shoot then they should also charge the Father. I would not turn my 8 year old over to some stranger for something like this without being right in on the supervision. Reports are now that the "supervisor" of the boy was only 15. How many of you would turn your 8 year old over to a 15 year old to teach houw to shoot without being right there?
 

rscottie

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PT111 wrote:
I really don't see any problems with the article and think it is much more objective than about any other I have read on it. My one comment is that if they are going to charge the operators of the shoot then they should also charge the Father. I would not turn my 8 year old over to some stranger for something like this without being right in on the supervision. Reports are now that the "supervisor" of the boy was only 15. How many of you would turn your 8 year old over to a 15 year old to teach houw to shoot without being right there?

Yeah, this story loses something in print. But, when I heard them do the story live on WSAZ their tone of voice and general demeanoris what made me post this. You could just tell that they were totally anti-gun and focused on the machine guns.They were using the tragedyin the other stateto discuss a yearly event here that is enjoyed by many. Their tone was like, "well, since there was one tragedy, this event should never happen again and why would anyone even want to shoot a machine gun?"

Also, I probably should have posted this in the General Discussion Forum. I'm still learning the ropes here. Sorry.
 

Kungfu

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Flyer22 wrote:
I think part of the issue is that there is a disconnect between the legal definition of a machine gun and the popular image of one. I know that I personally always tend to think of something like an M60 when I think of "machine gun."
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m60-mg.jpg

Those are far safer for a child to shoot, simply because they're a lot heavier.

Regardless of legal definitions, I think that it's much more accurate to call Uzis and AKs "automatic rifles."

With machineguns,a lot heavier does notmean safer. A couple years ago Ifired aMG34 and had itblow its topcover off on me when it misfed an 8mm round into the primer of another in the chamber.

No matter if you are talking about revolvers, single shots, semi-automatics ormachineguns, itis all about judgement, common sense, and responsibility....period.
 

Scooter123

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Just a bit of background on that New England shooting. The gun in question was a 9mm Mini Uzi, which is most properly described as a Machine Pistol. It's also a Machine Pistol that most full grown men would have trouble controlling in a full auto chain fire. Handing that particular weapon to an 8 year old was an extreme example of irresponsible behavior and the result shows why.

As for machine guns, they don't hold any interest for me because they are just too expensive to feed. Yeah, it might be fun to light off a belt of 50 caliber, but last time I checked that ammo ran 5.80 dollars per round. At 600 RPM, that works out to 3480.00 dollars per minute. Thanks, but no thanks, for that kind of money I could get a lot of guns that interest me far more. Say a P220 Elite, a Kimber Grand Raptor, and a S&W model 29 in Nickle.
 
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