Boy, 8, Shoots Self With Uzi at Gun Show

Boy, 8, Shoots Self With Uzi at Gun Show

WESTFIELD, Mass. — With an instructor watching, an 8-year-old boy at a gun fair aimed an Uzi submachine gun at a pumpkin and pulled the trigger as his dad reached for a camera.

It was his first time shooting a fully automatic gun, and the recoil of the weapon was too much for him. He lost control and fatally shot himself in the head.

Now gun safety experts — and some gun enthusiasts at the club where the shooting happened — are wondering why such a young child was allowed to fire a weapon used in war. Local, state and federal authorities are also investigating whether everyone involved had proper licenses or if anyone committed a criminal act.

"It's easy to lose control of a weapon like that ... they are used on a battleground for a very good reason," said Jerry Belair, a spokesman for Stop Handgun Violence, based in Newton, Massachusetts. "It's to shoot as many times as you possibly can without having to reload at an enemy that's approaching. It's not a toy. It's not something to play with."

Police said Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Connecticut, was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Sunday afternoon, shortly after firing a 9mm micro Uzi submachine gun at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, co-sponsored by C.O.P. Firearms & Training.

"The weapon was loaded and ready to fire," Westfield police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. "The 8-year-old victim had the Uzi and as he was firing the weapon, the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head."

Nunez said the investigation is continuing.

Christopher was attending the show with his father and older brother, Colin. Christopher had fired handguns and rifles before, but Sunday was his first time firing an automatic weapon, said his father, Charles Bizilj.

Bizilj told the Boston Globe he was about 10 feet (three meters) behind his son and reaching for his camera when the weapon fired. He said his family avoided the larger weapons, but he let his son try the Uzi because it is a small weapon with little recoil.

"This accident was truly a mystery to me," said Bizilj, director of emergency medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Connecticut. "This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don't know why it happened."

Police are calling the shooting an accident but are investigating whether everyone connected with the incident had proper weapons permits. Massachusetts requires licenses to own firearms, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issues different licenses to possess machine guns.

The machine gun shoot drew hundreds of people from as far away as Maine and Virginia. An advertisement said it would include machine gun demonstrations and rentals and free handgun lessons.

"It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site.

"You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you. But You Are In Control — "FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL," the ad said.

The ad also said children under 16 would be admitted free, and both adults and children were offered free .22-caliber pistol and rifle shooting.

Massachusetts has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and they are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Nunez said. The name of the instructor who was with the boy at the time was not released.

"We do not know at this time the full facts of this incident," Nunez said Monday.

Which is why I don't support gun rights that Americans seem to hold so dearly.

I mean, who the FUCK needs and Uzi? Why the hell was a kid allowed to handle one like that?

An interest in guns, I feel, is perfectly normal but there has to be a limit to it all. Everybody claims that if guns were outlawed then only the criminals would have them... I'm sorry, but when people who are this stupid are allowed to handle and distribute them, I'd rather take my chances with the criminals.

"Gun's don't kill people, people kill people" = bull-shit. This kid wasn't killed by a person, he was killed by a gun. Sure you can throw the blame on his father or the gun show owner, or whoever, but realistically guns or any sort should not be available to children at any time ever. It's stupid.

Why in the fuck would you even PERMIT your EIGHT YEAR OLD CHILD... CHILD... to hold and fire an UZI? WHY? That's fucking INSANE! What a wasted life... I hope that father realizes what he's done.

FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL - That right there sums up the attitude some idiots have to guns. What where these folks doing with an Uzi for fucks sake.
The sad thing is that this wont be the last little kid to die at the hands of guns and irresponsibile people ( anyone who gives an 8 year old any firearm is irresponsible) and yet you are still going to get people who would rather have thier legs removed than remove ther right to bear arms. I cannot for the life of me work out why his father thought it was a good idea for his son to be firing weapons.

Guns are not toys and No they are not safe either. If you are in the armed forces, police or secret service it will take weeks sometimes months to be permitted to use weapons, you are constantly monitored and you can have your weapon use withdrawn at any time but if you dont fancy all that you can walk into a gun shop buy wepaons that are as deadly and all they do is a background check, to me that is crazy.

Until the laws are changed more people are going to die, you can never be safe with a firearm.

What the heck was this kids dad thinking. No amount of training will make it ok to let an 8 year old to handle anything potentially lethal.

Im a NRA member and about as pro-gun as anybody you will ever meet, but my 9 year old has yet to even fire the air rifle he got for Christmas because he is not ready to do it safely, much less a friggin sub-machinegun

Criminal Charges Possible in Boy's Gun Show Uzi Death
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Authorities are considering whether criminal charges should be filed in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself with an Uzi submachine gun at a gun show.

Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett said Tuesday he hasn't been able to find any law that would authorize a child to possess or fire a machine gun.

Christopher Bizilj was trying out one of the weapons at the Westfield Sportsman's Club on Sunday when he lost control, shooting himself in the head.

An instructor was watching the boy at a firing range and the youngster's father was a few feet away.

Bennett says he's looking into whether anyone committed a reckless or wanton act when they allowed the boy to fire the weapon.

Who are they charging the instructor or the father?

They should BOTH be charged! Damn, I'd kick both of 'em in the 'nads, if I could. IDIOTS!

I agree with Lawless. Although I believe the instructor will receive the brunt of it. The father could claim he didn't know any better, whereas the instructor should know all about recoil.

And that is bullshit. The father should KNOW that allowing a CHILD to pick up an uzi could, and most likely would, have horrific results.

Well, I thought my five-year-old was ready to go hang gliding alone... just about as asinine.

Dumb ass parent. Sucks for the kid, bless 'em and all that. But with a supremely ignorant parent I don't know if he had a chance.

-HECK!

I would say to be slightly more lenient on the father, I imagine he feels guilty enough over it and he's got to carry that the rest of his life, yes it was stupid and negligent and a million other things, but I'd assume he's learnt his lesson, sending him to jail or fining him isn't really neccessary,