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AIBU?

To wonder what kind of idiot teaches a 9-year-old to use an Uzi

397 replies

BadLad · 27/08/2014 11:33

m.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28948946

A 9-year-old kills her shooting instructor when she loses control of the Uzi he is teaching her to use.

Apparently many (that's right, many) firing ranges have strict rules when teaching children.

Oh well, that's all right then, what was I worried about?

OP posts:

Report

Gruntfuttock · 27/08/2014 13:11

Sorry, my last post was in response to Ev1lEdna @ 13:05:59

MrsWinnibago · 27/08/2014 13:13

Aga so what if there are hundreds of ranges in Arizona. That doesn't make it ok! There is always a huge risk where guns are concerned...oh...why's that again??? BECAUSE THEY KILL! One gun is too many.

MrsWinnibago · 27/08/2014 13:14

I'm so sad for that child. She's now had the experience of seeing a man's face blown off. Because of something she did.

She will need years of counselling. I have a ten year old DD and she'd never, ever cope with that.

LegoSuperstar · 27/08/2014 13:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mrsjayy · 27/08/2014 13:14

Oh was arizona not nevada not that it matters much.

dreamingbohemian · 27/08/2014 13:15

Less than 700 people a year die in bicycle accidents

More than 30,000 die from guns

So let's just put these back in separate boxes, shall we?

I don't want people to think all Americans are stupid, because lots of us are anti-gun or at least want to restrict guns to actual hunting and sporting purposes, not fucking Uzis

But I think it's fair to say the uniquely American logic about guns is stupid, and people who think unlimited gun use and children using guns are stupid

TSSDNCOP · 27/08/2014 13:15

Do you suppose that the child, the instructors wife and kids are now sitting reflecting with fond holiday memories on the "fun" day everyone had at the Nevada gun range for utter morons yesterday?

Or do you think they were hoping the kids parents had opted for a day of fun at say Legoland?

Because let's face it my video of Legoland fun doesn't involve a mans head being blown off at point blank range.

BongCrisby · 27/08/2014 13:15

There are hobbies that carry risks, cycling, climbing and plenty of others, but firing guns, buying small children guns is not a hobby with a risk, it is an accident waiting to happen, and people who put their dc in such a position are, IMO, stupid.

differentnameforthis · 27/08/2014 13:15

The results of the study, published online in the journal Pediatrics, were based on statistics gathered from 2009. Researchers found that in that year, 7,391 children were hospitalized for gun-related injuries. The majority of those injuries, 84 percent, involved young males. Hospitalizations were highest among teens between the ages of 15 and 19. According to the data collected, deaths occurred in 6.1 percent of children and adolescents. Assaults were the most frequent cause of hospitalizations, ^and suicide attempts were the least. Other causes of injury included unintentional or accidental gunshots.

Here

AgaPanthers · 27/08/2014 13:15

"Only if, as part of that bicycle tour, you put a 9 yr old on a heavy motorbike with Boudicca type blades on the wheels. Can you really not see the difference between an Uzi and a bicycle?"

Yes of course I can, but likewise I can look at statistics, which suggest roughly 40 million Americans took part in recreational shooting last year, and 35.6 million road bicycles, and there were 677 cyclist deaths, and 606 accidental gun deaths, a total which includes guns in the home, and is not broken down into categories e.g., hunting accidents, accidental discharge at home, etc.

It would appear that cycling is a more dangerous activity than recreational gun shooting. I don't think it's particularly useful to say that guns are designed to kill, whereas bicycles aren't, if in fact more people die riding bicycles. The fact that bicycles are 'peaceful' doesn't negate their risk, nor does gun's 'violence' exacerbate theirs.

AgaPanthers · 27/08/2014 13:16

sorry 'rode bicycles'.

differentnameforthis · 27/08/2014 13:18

The legal aspect has nothing to do with this. In Las Vegas they have the dealt penalty. You know what else is legal in the stare of Nevada?

the death penalty.

Yet I don't see them letting kids have access to a lethal cocktail!!

Mrsjayy · 27/08/2014 13:19

Little girls dont beat and and kill others with their bikes aga

Flipflops7 · 27/08/2014 13:20

The poor little girl. I haven't read the argument; not even sure why there is one.

Gruntfuttock · 27/08/2014 13:20

So if someone's teaching you to ride a bike and you lose control of the bike, do you fall off or does the bike blow the instructor's head off? This is very interesting and I'm always willing to learn.

MrsWinnibago · 27/08/2014 13:21

Flip because some people keep justifying children and guns. Which any reasonable person knows is a bad combo. Kids are not reliable...they're not strong and they often lose their common sense when panicked. Therefore...kids and guns should never be mixed.

BongCrisby · 27/08/2014 13:22

Aga, I've seen that argument before, but IMO it doesn't equate.
A child owning a bike will spend many hours riding their bikes, presumably, a household owning a gun or making the bizarre choice to take their dc to a firing range to operate an Uzi, the child will not spend the hours and hours that they do on their bikes, so if the statistics were broken down to reveal time spent in the saddle compared to time operating a gun (whether deliberately or accidentally), it becomes a pointless comparison.

Timetoask · 27/08/2014 13:23

poor little girl she will be traumatised for life.
When is north America going to wake up about the stupidity of guns for all!

Thebodyloveschocolateandwine · 27/08/2014 13:23

Just heard this on the news and quite frankly was appalled.

To me teaching a 9 year old child to shoot at all, let alone a machine gun, is tantamount to child abuse.

What a strange mixed up society.

AuntieStella · 27/08/2014 13:24

"It would appear that cycling is a more dangerous activity than recreational gun shooting"

No it wouldn't, because you are not comapring like with like.

One obvious one is that you shouldn't be counting number of bicycles, but number of journeys.

Another is that you should be looking at deaths caused by cyclists (not of cyclists) compared to the number of deaths caused by recreational shooting (not of shooters).

differentnameforthis · 27/08/2014 13:24

Aga,

A BICYCLE IS NOT DESIGNED TO KILL.

IT IS NOT A LETHAL WEAPON.

NO ONE I KNOW HAS DIED RIDING A BICYCLE, NO ONE I KNOW HAS KILLED SOMEONE WITH A BICYCLE.

In fact, a death of some on a cycle is more likely to be due to some kind of collision with a vehicle. The most damage a cycle will do to a third party is possibly a broken bone.

Not death!

OwlCapone · 27/08/2014 13:24

there were 677 cyclist deaths

How many of those were deaths caused by bicycles and how many were actually deaths caused by other road users?

Flipflops7 · 27/08/2014 13:24

Grunt, exactly, I don't know why people are trying to justify mixing guns and kids.

saltnpepa · 27/08/2014 13:25

Poor child, whatever were her parents thinking?

Flipflops7 · 27/08/2014 13:25

Sorry, MrsWinnebago not Grunt.

Flip

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