Well, we have finally got some movement in the shooting case in Western MA. If you remember an 8 year old was killed when he fired an Uzi at an machinegun shoot. They are going to charge three folks and the club with a crime over the death.
Now I think the guy was nuts to hand an 8 year old an Uzi with a full mag but that is me. A mistake was made and I agree that a mistake was made, but I don’t think this rises to the level of criminal behavior. If you can look at anything here it is an accident and that is all. I don’t see how anyone did anything criminal. The only difference between what happened here and a kid getting killed in a sports game is that this is MA and a gun was involved.
Lets review the facts:
Adult with the kid handling the gun – Yes
Adult was a certified instructor – Yes
Adult knew how to handle the gun – Assume a Yes
At a gun club shooting on a range – Yes
Kids Parent was with him – Yes
Kids Parent approved of the child shooting – Yes
Other people (and kids) had shot the gun already that day - Yes
This kid’s parent was OK with him shooting, and they had been there and seen what was going on. Dad is a Doctor so I have to assume he is smart enough to know a gun is dangerous just like a table saw or a hammer or a swimming pool or sky diving, or swimming in the ocean or snorkeling or boating or. . . . but all can be used/done with proper supervision by a kid.
Again, would I have done it with my kid – no, I would have made him start with only one or two shots in the mag to make sure he can handle it. That is me and hindsight is always 20/20. My kids also know how to handle a gun and I don’t know what experience this child had. Obviously he was not instructed enough or did not listen, but either way I don’t think a crime was committed here.
All I ask is that we be reasonable. If we charge these folks then we also need to hold folks criminally accountable when ever there is a death, be it on the football field, a fall off a horse, or anything else that most would call an accident. Just because a gun was involved should not taint how we deal with the accident.
Update - Sounds like MA law is that anyone under 18 is not allowed to fire a machine gun so the club should have known that and that is the only law broken. This still does not rate manslaughter charges in my book, there was supervision and parents involved, it was an accident. The club should be held accountable for the one law broken and that is it. There was a chief of Police involved in the shoot so he should have known the law but many cops in MA don't understand our messed up gun laws yet we are all held to them. . .
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