Arizona nine-year old in Uzi gun lesson accident

[Burnsy2023]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28948946

Am I think only one completely dumbfounded at the fact this even happened? Now I know the US has a rather different relationship with guns, but who in their right mind gives a 9 year old child an Uzi?

After thinking about this, I don't have a problem with children target shooting with firearms per se, but the fact that she was very young and that it was a fully automatic weapon - which let's be honest isn't designed for target practice, makes me think this should have been avoided with just a smidgen of common sense.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Where did I say we should own guns to attack the police? I meant we need guns to ensure our civil liberties aren't trampled on by the very government that pretends to protect us...

What about the NSA spying fiasco, or online censorship or the deep rooted racial issues that plague the US? When have guns ever actually helped the civil rights incursions that affect people on a daily basis? They don't. Negotiation and consensus does.

 

[Burnsy2023]

I remember hearing that quote quite a lot in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, I always struggled with it because the situation seemed a bit more complicated, then Dr Rowan Williams came on the BBC Radio 4 in thought for the day and said something that really put it into perspective for me;

You don't have to be religious to see that makes a lot of sense.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Statistics;
USA Population = 318 million
Life expectancy = 79
Annual gun deaths = 32,000
Source;http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states

Average chance of USA citizen being killed by firearm in calendar year = 1 in 9,938 (318,000,000 / 32,000)
Average change of USA citizen being killed by firearm in lifetime = 1 in 126 (9,938 / 79)

one in every 126 USA citizens to die by firearm!

I'm pretty sure that Maths doesn't work there.

 

[Burnsy2023]

I was under the impression that fully automatic weapons were banned in the US and have been since the 80's, either under Reagan or Bush Sr.?

Clinton IIRC, but the law was on a time limit and was not renewed.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Guns have one purpose. To kill. If you're pro gun for civilians then you're scum in my eyes. I can't be any clearer than that.

You could say that about archery too. Bows and arrows have the primary purpose which is to kill. That doesn't mean that using it as a sport is bad or that archery is necessarily a danger to other people.

I think guns are completely legitimate for farmers who have pests, people who hunt deer other other animals or even as a sport for target practice. My main issue with the news story is that the girl was very young, too young in my opinion and that the weapon was automatic. If you are hunting or shooting a target you have absolutely no need for fully automatic fire.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Because that is seriously helping gun crime in cities like Manchester and London isn't it?

Well done, not only are you hotlinking, but you clearly don't understand the underlying statistics and what they do and don't show.