Firing range instructor dies after 9-year-old girl shoots hi

[Batman]

I'm not sure about 'better' but it certainly would have been safer.
Why do civilians (leave alone kids) need access to automatic weapons again?

[Gandalf]

I'm not sure about 'better' but it certainly would have been safer.
Why do civilians (leave alone kids) need access to automatic weapons again?

The reasons tend to boil down to "we like them" or "because people we dislike* have them too."

*This can include criminals, police, the government, or whomever one has deemed a gun-worthy threat.

[Grumman]

I'm not sure about 'better' but it certainly would have been safer.
Why do civilians (leave alone kids) need access to automatic weapons again?

You've got the question backwards. The question you should be asking is "Why do civilians need to not have access to automatic weapons?" And if your answer is "because automatic weapons in civilian hands are a significant danger" then you should know whether or not that is actually true. Automatic weapons have been regulated since the Prohibition, became even more heavily regulated despite all the evidence suggesting that the previous regulations were sufficient, and unless there have been more incidents in the past eighty years than the four I'm familiar with, it would suggest that they really aren't something to worry about.

[Broomstick]

Even if it were a single shot this is a 9mm weapon - the recoil would be already hard to deal for a kid that age, and even grown up people have hurt themselves when underestimating/being surprised by recoil.

^ This.

I was a full grown adult when I first fired a gun and the gentleman instructing me was cautious about starting me on low-powered guns first and gradually working my way up to more powerful weapons. Even if you're cautioned and prepared recoil very much can surprise you. In the thread I made awhile back discussing the possibility of a gun purchase there was a lot of discussion about being physically able to handle a particular weapon.

I'm OK with teaching a 9 year old about guns, but traditionally a kid that young fires something like .22.

[Broomstick]

Only in 'MURICA would someone think that this was a brilliant idea.

To be fair – most Americans also think was a stupid idea.

Like I said, it's the 18th century mentality at work. Back in those days, on the frontier, a boy could be expected to help provide for his family by shooting small game for the pot.

Actually, in my area – within spitting distance of the third largest city in the US, remember – boys were shooting small game for the family up to the 1960's, a lot of my contemporaries around here would take their .22s to school and leave them in the coat room, with the idea being they could bag a rabbit or the like going to or from (if they got something prior to school it would also hang in the coat room until time to go home). Although, again, the boys were using .22 single-shots, not Uzis.

I'm not sure about 'better' but it certainly would have been safer.
Why do civilians (leave alone kids) need access to automatic weapons again?

I'd argue they don't need access, and in many places they effectively don't have access. That's why this is a story you hear from Arizona, not, say, Massachusetts.

[LadyTevar]

I will also point out that despite WV being a very solid NRA supporting state, there's nothing like Bullets & Burgers here. Guns are something you're trained in by your father, your uncle, or other male relative when you're 8-10yrs old. You're taught not just how, but when, where and why to shoot. BB-guns and Airsofts lead to .22s and .410s. Then you get into the 30-aughts and other deer rifles. It's not unusal for a boy to have his first deer by age 13.

[Adam Reynolds]

Is it bad that my immediate reaction was that this man deserved a Darwin Award? Though the majority of the blame should be on the parents who thought this was a good idea as well as the range for failing to have age restrictions.

[LaCroix]

Is it bad that my immediate reaction was that this man deserved a Darwin Award? Though the majority of the blame should be on the parents who thought this was a good idea as well as the range for failing to have age restrictions.

No, the majority of the blame lies on him - he was the instructor for this child, he himself switched to full auto, he stood at the wrong position, he didn't take a hold on the gun for safety. All his own fault.

[mr friendly guy]

Is it bad that my immediate reaction was that this man deserved a Darwin Award? Though the majority of the blame should be on the parents who thought this was a good idea as well as the range for failing to have age restrictions.

No, the majority of the blame lies on him - he was the instructor for this child, he himself switched to full auto, he stood at the wrong position, he didn't take a hold on the gun for safety. All his own fault.

Someone said "Guns don't kill gun nuts, Darwinism does."