Nine Year Old With Uzi Accidentally Kills Instructor
Last week a nine year old girl accidentally shot and killed her shooting instructor when she lost control of an Uzi that she was learning to use. According to a report from NBC, “Charles Vacca, 39, was teaching the girl how to use the automatic weapon on Monday morning at the Last Stop outdoor shooting range in White Hills, Arizona, when she pulled the trigger and the kickback caused the gun to lurch over her head. Vacca was hit by a stray bullet and airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where he was pronounced dead late Monday. The girl was at the range with her parents at the time, but their names were not released.”
Social Media Frenzy Ensues
Of course, much like the case with the beheading of James Foley, social media jumped on this story with a video of the gruesome event, which will not be posted here. In the video, Vacca is seen handing the weapon to the child and allowing her to shoot. However, according to the Associated Press, “Ronald Scott, a Phoenix-based firearms safety expert, said most instructors usually have their hands on guns when children are firing high-powered weapons. He explained, “You can’t give a 9-year-old an Uzi and expect her to control it.” According to the New York Daily News, “County prosecutors say the instructor was probably the most criminally negligent person involved in the accident for having allowed the child to hold the gun without enough training. They also said the parents and child weren’t criminally culpable.”
Fully-Automatic Weapons Legal in the US
Although in the video the child seems to be able to control the gun on single shot mode, she lost control when Vacca let her switch to bursts. According to the IJReview,“Contrary to popular belief, it is not outright illegal to possess a fully automatic firearm in the United States. But it is extraordinarily difficult to get the proper licensing to own one,” and CNN explains that according to the NRA, “Fully automatic weapons are legal in most states, but require an extensive federal background check and a permit from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.” No charges will be filed in this incident. Most would expect that to be the end of the story, as a child tries to emotionally heal from such a tragedy. Sadly, that is not the case.
Gun Control Activists Use Child’s Tragedy to Further Agenda
Just as it was with Ferguson Missouri, so shall it be with this child, and pretty much any story that the media and politician can use to further an agenda. An article in the New Yorker, for example, is already calling for stricter rules on gun safety.
The article states that, “It is sad and telling that the only department left to look into Vacca’s death is the state equivalent of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, regularly derided by Republicans, and that it’s unlikely to be able to do much at all.”
In a case where even the experts have admitted that the main fault -if any in such an accident- lies with the instructor, a media-fueled political agenda is using a nine year old’s tragedy to run rampant throughout the internet and cable television. It has been made excessively clear that this accident occurred because the gun was too much for a nine year old to handle by herself. Should a child so small and young be allowed to shoot such a weapon without the instructor’s hands on it? Probably not. Does that have one thing to do with whether or not an American citizen should be allowed to exercise their Right to Bear Arms? Not one tiny little bit.