This is so so wrong, that this could ever happen....

Dave - 12-4-2008 at 03:51 PM

8 Year old in, UZI DEATH HORROR

WESTFIELD, Mass. - An 8-year-old boy was killed after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.

The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, police Lt. Lawrence Vallierpratte said.

Police said the boy, Christopher Bizilj (pronounced Bah-SEAL) of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor, and ruled the death a "self-inflicted accidental shooting."

As Christopher fired the Uzi, "the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head," police Lt. Hipolito Nuñez said. The boy died at a hospital.

Christopher's father and older brother were also there at the time, a gun-club member and school official said.

Francis Mitchell, a longtime member and trustee of the club, said he was told the boy's father was supporting his son from behind when the incident happened.

Although the death appeared to be an accident, officials were investigating.

It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Nuñez said.

The name of the instructor helping the boy was not released.

clevohardcore - 12-4-2008 at 03:56 PM

This should have never happened. RIP.

A boy that young should never have been put in the situation. Those with experience with guns just imagine how much recoil you would get from a uzi. Plus the fact that it is a short weapon that is automatic and high caliber. Just terrible.

Dave - 12-4-2008 at 04:04 PM

tell me this, why the fuck would anyone let a eight year old fire any gun, besides maybe a BB/pellet gun?

Fucking Idiots.......

morgan - 12-4-2008 at 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave
tell me this, why the fuck would anyone let a eight year old fire any gun, besides maybe a BB/pellet gun?

Fucking Idiots.......

I've been shooting guns since I was really young. I was about 5 when I got my first actual rifle, an M-1 carbine. But yeah an 8 year old kid should not be shooting a fully automatic weapon. This is really sad.

clevohardcore - 12-4-2008 at 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by morgan

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave
tell me this, why the fuck would anyone let a eight year old fire any gun, besides maybe a BB/pellet gun?

Fucking Idiots.......

^^^^^^^^^^ that is the bottom line. Those adults were probably watching and thinking wow cool and then the disaster/accident happened. What on earth are you thinking when you let a 8 year old boy shoot a gun like that?

updated info

BDx13 - 12-4-2008 at 06:48 PM

Gun club, police chief indicted in boy's Uzi death

By STEPHANIE REITZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 19 mins ago

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Three men, including a small-town police chief, were indicted Thursday on involuntary manslaughter counts in the gun-fair death of an 8-year-old who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi that a prosecutor said he never should have been allowed to handle.

The club where the fair was held also was charged. The fair had promised shooters would have certified instructors in an advertisement, but District Attorney William Bennett said the child, Christopher Bizilj, was supervised by an uncertified 15-year-old boy.

Christopher, of Ashford, Conn., lost control of the 9mm micro submachine gun as it recoiled while he was firing at a pumpkin Oct. 26 at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club in western Massachusetts.

Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury was charged because he owns the sponsor of the gun fair, COP Firearms & Training. Two men who brought the automatic weapon to the show, Carl Guiffre of Hartford, Conn., and Domenico Spano, of New Milford, Conn., also were indicted.

An involuntary manslaughter conviction carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence and $1,000 fine. The term could be five years or less for someone with no prior convictions.

Fleury and the club also were indicted on four counts each of furnishing a machine gun to a minor. A conviction on each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to $10,000 in fines and the loss of a firearms license for at least 10 years.

Bennett said prosecutors know of at least four children, including Christopher, who fired automatic weapons at the fair. He added that Fleury had wrongly assured Guiffre and Spano that it was legal for children to use the Uzi under Massachusetts law.

"A Micro Uzi is made by and for the Israeli Armed Forces and is intended to meet the operational needs of Israeli Special Forces," Bennett said, noting that the weapon has a rate of fire of 20 to 25 rounds per second. "It is not a hunting weapon."

Thomas Drechsler, an attorney for the club, said it continues to extend its "deepest sympathy" to the Bizilj family, but denies any wrongdoing. He said neither the club nor any member gave the Uzi to Christopher or any children, and weren't in the immediate area when the accident happened.

"The club is disappointed by the indictment," he said. "The club's intention is to plead not guilty and the club denies they participated in any criminal act."

Fleury, Guiffre and Spano did not immediately return calls for comment.

The machine gun shoot drew hundreds of people to the sporting club's 375-acre compound. An advertisement said it would include machine gun demonstrations and rentals and free handgun lessons.

"It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site.

"You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you. But You Are In Control — "FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL," the ad said.

The ad also said children under 16 would be admitted free, and both adults and children were offered free .22-caliber pistol and rifle shooting.

Christopher's father was 10 feet behind him and reaching for his camera when the child fired the weapon.

Bennett said Charles Bizilj (pronounced bah-SEAL') had selected the compact weapon for his 4-foot-3, 66-pound son to fire after he was assured it was safe. He had thought the Uzi's small size made it safer, but the opposite was true, the prosecutor said.

"Although it might appear a heavier or longer weapon would be more dangerous, the small size of the weapon together with the rapid rate of fire made it more likely that an 8-year-old would lose control and the muzzle of the weapon would come close to his face, which is what happened here," he said.

The father was not charged because he was a layman and based his decision on information from others who should have known it was too dangerous, Bennett said. The 15-year-old boy who was supervising Christopher with the Uzi also will not be charged, he added.

Christopher's family did not immediately return a call seeking comment. His father has said his son had experience firing handguns and rifles but the gun show was his first time with an automatic weapon.

Fleury, the police chief, has been on sick leave since the boy's death, according to Kim Leahey, administrative aide for the Pelham Board of Selectmen. Leahey said the board would have no statement on the indictment until it consults its attorneys.

Fleury is one of two full time officers in Pelham. In a statement issued shortly after the accident, the board said Fleury's company was a "purely personal pursuit" and not subject to their approval.

Discipline - 12-4-2008 at 09:54 PM

Only in America.

Six66Mike - 12-4-2008 at 10:04 PM

I thought this happened a month ago? I swear I read it on a forum last month, 8 year old loses control of an uzi and shoots himself.

Also I heard 2 guys shot themselves to death outside a Toys R Us fighting over a toy? That was on the news here last week, never saw the story online though. (never looked mind you)

barc0debaby - 12-5-2008 at 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Six66Mike
Also I heard 2 guys shot themselves to death outside a Toys R Us fighting over a toy? That was on the news here last week, never saw the story online though. (never looked mind you)

I read about that one in the newspaper. Some funny shit, the two girlfriends of the men got into an argument in the check outline at toy r us so the dudes pulled out guns and shot each other to death. Gotta love darwinism.

random - 12-5-2008 at 08:20 AM

I don't mind kids shooting guns under the proper cirumstances. Actually, I prefer that children in households with guns be taught from an early age what they are, how they work, and that they're not toys... a healthy respect for what they are and what they can do is the best thing to prevent kids from playing with guns, which ends in tragedy too often because the consequences weren't clear in advance.

However, I am appalled at the level of negligence going on here.

Quote:

Originally posted by BD

Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury was charged because he owns the sponsor of the gun fair, COP Firearms & Training. Two men who brought the automatic weapon to the show, Carl Guiffre of Hartford, Conn., and Domenico Spano, of New Milford, Conn., also were indicted.

[...]

Bennett said prosecutors know of at least four children, including Christopher, who fired automatic weapons at the fair. He added that Fleury had wrongly assured Guiffre and Spano that it was legal for children to use the Uzi under Massachusetts law.

The two guys who brought the gun were assured (incorrectly) by a police chief that it was legal to allow the kid to shoot the gun. I realize you should get some legal advice from a lawyer on this before going through with a public event, but it seems like a cop should be pretty trustworthy on this one. Same rationale as the father not being charged... see the quote below. These guys probably did act in a criminally negligent manner though, when they didn't have the Certified Instructors that were promised in the ad (and who probably wouldn't have let the kid shoot the gun).

Come to think of it, there's a lot of paperwork to be done to buy an automatic weapon in the US, so they must have gotten some legal advice at some point.

Quote:

"A Micro Uzi is made by and for the Israeli Armed Forces and is intended to meet the operational needs of Israeli Special Forces," Bennett said, noting that the weapon has a rate of fire of 20 to 25 rounds per second. "It is not a hunting weapon."

Quotes like this annoy me, though it's irrelevant to the rest of this post. I don't think an SKS is intended to be a hunting weapon, either, but so what. Gun ownership is legal and constitutional... and it's not there for hunting purposes. Not a big deal to me if a child is supervised and taught to shoot an SKS if the adult supervising believes the child can handle the gun properly. That's the problem I have here... people letting a child handle a gun he couldn't (and shouldn't have been expected to be able to) handle.

Then there's also that law about minors not being allowed to shoot automatic weapons, which is another distinction between the Uzi and SKS.

Quote:

The father was not charged because he was a layman and based his decision on information from others who should have known it was too dangerous, Bennett said.

I'm curious to know if the father shot the gun before deciding it was appropriate to let his kid shoot it.

Bottom line, stupidity all around. Sucks that the kid is the one who paid the ultimate price for the negligence of others.

Voodoobillyman - 12-5-2008 at 09:56 AM

tragic

clevohardcore - 12-5-2008 at 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Voodoobillyman
tragic

^^^^^^^^^^ That says it all.