I can’t imagine giving an interview to the press if my son had just been killed in an accident. You can kind of tell the father is still in shock. Apparenty it was the first time his kid had ever shot an automatic:
Christopher was accompanied by a trained professional as he held the 9-mm Micro Uzi machine gun at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club Sunday afternoon, but Bizilj said he doesn’t think the shooting guide was holding the weapon as his son pressed the trigger.
A micro-Uzi?  Are you kidding me? No way in hell would I ever let an eight year old fire a micro-Uzi. Even an adult first time machine pistol shooter would need a good bit of instruction before handing them a full magazine to dump. Dad may not have been familiar with machine pistols, but the “trained professional” sure-as-shit should have known better.
The annual machine gun show is advertised as a free-for-all for gun enthusiasts, and has created discord among some club members, said longtime club member Bob Greenleaf.
“To let an 8-year-old boy fire an Uzi is the height of stupidity,†said Greenleaf.
Greenleaf, a member of the club for 44 years, was so opposed to the annual machine gun shoot that he resigned from the club’s board of directors four years ago.
What really tweaks me about this asshole is, you know he called the media. They didn’t dig him up. He called the media to announce to the world that “I was right! It’s dangerous!” Club politics are not something that need to be acted out in the newspapers, especially in response to an tragic accident that could very well endanger the club itself, and by association, the entire shooting culture in Western Massachusetts.
Machine gun shoots are not inherently dangerous, and this event has happened several times a year for years with no problems, as do hundreds of events around the country. This absolutely should prompt clubs that host machine gun shoots to review their safety procedures. Once the investigation is complete, and we know more about how this incident happened, we’ll be able to determined what needs to be changed. I support parents being free to make decisions about teaching their children to shoot, but if this really was an Uzi, that’s not an appropriate firearm for an eight year old.
When I was taught how to fire a machine pistol, I started out with firing in semi-auto mode, to get used to the recoil. Then fill the magazine with two rounds, then three, then start out learning how to burst the trigger. It’s not until you get used to it that you should try to dump a full magazine. I’m not against kids shooting guns, not even against them shooting machine guns provided they are given appropriate instruction and appropriately controllable firearms. Machine pistols are difficult to control, even for an adults. Someone had a tragic lapse in judgment.
UPDATE: More eating our own. I have an idea. Let’s wait for the police and ATF to investigate this, so we understand exactly what happened first. Then we can come up with productive solutions for ensuring this never happens again. Closing down the club is not in the space of “productive solutions.”
A few weeks ago there was a mishap with a stunt demonstration involving explosives at Knob Creek. Now an eight year old kid accidently shot himself with a submachine gun at a machine gun shoot in Westfield, Massachusetts. I’m sorry to say, but this will probably be the end of machine gun shooting in Massachusetts. This is the first accident I can honestly think of involving a Title II firearm, and there are hundreds of shoots like this all over the country year round, but none of that will matter to the hysterics that are going to follow in the Bay State.
I’d like to review my Kel-Tec P-3AT, but it arrived out of the case with a defective barrel. Wasn’t something I noticed under cursory inspection when I looked at it pre-purchase, because it was subtle, and lets face it, you don’t expect something like that to make it past quality control these days. It probably wasn’t bad enough to prevent the gun from test firing. It looked like something had impacted the barrel on the outside, because there was a visible tool mark, and if you looked at the inside of the barrel under a bore light, you could see that it dimpled through.
Now Kel-Tec is saying that it’ll take four to five weeks to turn around that part and get me a new barrel. That’s an awful long time to wait for a part for a gun that never should have left the factory in the condition it was in. I had been wanting a Ruger LCP, now I’m disappointed I didn’t hold out for one. I can understand that sometimes a bad gun leaves the factory. It happens to every manufacturer. But a quick turnaround time on the part of Kel-Tec would have made it all better. Four to five weeks is not an acceptable time period for fixing a gun that was defective out of the factory.
… perusing through a friend’s collection of Mitch Rosen holsters, I discovered Bitter is a closet holster sniffer. Hardly a holster went by that went unsniffed. I have to admit, quality gun leather does smell pretty good. My kydex holster smells more like dryer lint in comparison. The day planner on the table is actually not a day planner, but a carefully crafted holster that holds my Glock 19 and a spare magazine quite nicely. That could come in handy.
Tom McClintock is a California State Senator. He’s currently running for Congress in California’s 4th Congressional District, who’s seat is currently occupied by retiring Republican John Doolittle. Tom has been a strong advocate for the Second Amendment, and conservative principles in California for a long time. He carries an A rating, and an endorsement from the NRA. He a good candidate who deserves the support of Golden State gun owners.
I have been offered an opportunity to interview Senator McClintock, and thought I would open up the comments to anyone who wants to ask a question of him. I have a few I’m thinking of asking, but if someone comes up with a good one, I’d be happy to include it.
We’re about to possibly elect a president from a political culture who believes Bill Ayers is “no big deal.” Just keep that in mind as we head into November.
Looks like John Morganelli is trying to run from his record and statements on guns. I’m as much concerned by how Morganelli proposes to implement “Lost and Stolen” as I am about the fact that he’s supporting the measure. If the AG can regulate that issue under consumer protection measures, what’s to stop him from banning guns? Anyone who proposes to do what Morganelli is doing can’t be trusted as Attorney General. Gun owners really need to get behind Tom Corbett this election.
