We previously discussed the tragic case of an eight-year-old boy who shot himself accidentally with a fully automatic Uzi. A similar tragedy has now occurred but it is the instructor who was killed by a 9-year-old girl learning to fire a submachine gun in Arizona at the Bullets and Burgers shooting range. The instructor, 39-year-old Charles Vacca, died at a hospital after he was shot in the head.
Bullets and Burgers allows children between 8 and 17 to shoot such weapons. An Uzi is an Israeli-made submachine gun. In this case, the recoil moved the weapon off the shoulder of the little girl and turned toward the instructor. The video showing the event up to the second before the shooting is shown below. The video shows Vacca positioning the little and her firing off a single round. Vacca then adjusted the Uzi, put his right hand on her back and his left under her right arm. She fired several rounds in rapid succession before the gun kicked to the left as she lost control. She was with her parents.
Bullets and Burgers advertises that “We separate ourselves from all other Las Vegas ranges with our unique ‘Desert Storm’ atmosphere and military style bunkers.”
These types of accidents are generally covered under issues of assumption of the risk and contractual waivers by all of the parties, including the instructors. The death would be covered under worker’s compensation unless the Vacca family will seek negligence liability for how the facility is run or structured as well as standards of training and safety. There is the separate question of whether the state should limit such use of weapons, a highly controversial question with gun rights advocates who are likely to point out that all of the parties consent to such risks (with the parents consenting for the minor). Finally, there is the emotional distress for this little girl who will have to live with this incredibly horrific memory.
Notably, some coverage suggests that Vacca may have been negligent in where he was standing. Greg Block, who runs California-based Self-Defense Firearms Training, said that a child should not be using this type of gun and that Vacca “was literally in the line of fire. He did pretty much everything wrong, and I don’t like saying that because it cost the man his life.” That would raise the question of possible liability of the range if the family were to sue over the trauma to their daughter, though such a lawsuit would present difficult issues since they would effectively have to sue the man killed by the minor under a respondeat superior theory.
In the Massachusetts case, former Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury was found not guilty two years ago in a prosecution for involuntary manslaughter and furnishing a machine gun to a minor in the death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj.
I might have missed it but wouldn’t the insurance industry set the minimum acceptable range safety standards for coverage?
JAG does not hate guns. She corrected me about that. I can handle being corrected by a righteous person like JAG. She likes to shoot. JAG doesn’t hate the 2nd Amendment. This discussion has been a good one. Elaine, I would LOVE a forthcoming comment from you about what you really think about guns and the 2nd Amendment. No feelings. No links. What do you think?
Pete,
Some people seem to think that common sense and good judgment are overrated.
Oh I see the thread has made that ‘turn’ again. Wonder why.
“Better out than in” is what my wise mom would always say. Some symmetry to the last 2 comments.
Ask a question about the safety of children as young as eight and nine years old firing an Uzi and we get the typical blather about car accidents and the nanny state.
Elaine – see my comment to justagurl at 11:55. More regulation is the hallmark of the Nanny State.
No one “stirs” here like you, Nick.
Any old guy – there are several stirrers on here. You are one.
pete, JAG said that awhile ago. There has been no name calling. However, if there were to be, JAG could handle it better than just about anyone, including you. The “name calling” has decreased immensely since January. coincidence, I think not. If you want to stir up some shit go to India[see Darren’s good post today].
Paul, Read my comment again. I said, the northeast is liberal. I named 3 liberal elites among many more who live a stones throw away from Newtown to make my point about the area. I said, even many conservatives in Ct. and the northeast don’t like guns. Am I going to have to make you diagram sentences, son???
Nick – a diagrammed sentence would be perfect. Love to see you do it on this format. 😉
jag
You mentioned guns and common sense in the same sentence. Get ready for the name calling.
My god.. How can you equate, having an age, height or weight requirement, at FIRING Ranges, on CERTAIN WEAPONS to BANNING GUNS????
Now, maybe you have never known a parent who has lost a child, BUT, I have… and to lose a child, or to have a child traumatized by something like this, that is PREVENTABLE, is ridiculous….
See, It does not matter how common sense the idea is, YOU gun fanatics are against it…..
and NOWHERE did I even suggest that the kids should not be learning about guns, or shooting guns…. I am suggesting a common sense requirement that would
let the Firing Range Instructors off the hook, from pushy parents trying to talk them into allowing their child to shoot a gun that is out of their range….
So, what 8 and 9 Year olds shooting Uzi’s is a Constitutional Right???
Even a roller coaster has a height requirement….
justagurl – I would posit that regardless of the age, there is a Constitutional right to bear arms. So, yes, a 9 year old has a Constitutional Right to bear her Uzi.
The instructor should have known, as would anyone familiar with these weapons, that it would recoil upward. The experienced instructor should have been ready for it.
There’s nothing wrong with a kid learning about weapons, as long as they are ready for it and have a experienced teacher.
Of course people won’t let this go as a accident, even as kids younger than her are racing quads & dirt bikes, or doing other dangerous sports.
Bottom line: You can’t fix stupid, and there is way too much of it to outlaw every stupid behavior everywhere. Too bad so many people run around trying to do so, though.
Liberals sure make it difficult to take them seriously. You want abortion available everywhere but you want to restrict or ban guns. The argument for the former and against the latter is the same; if they are restricted or banned then a way will be found that will be unregulated and unsafe. The concern for viable children is certainly touching.
justagurl – we do not know how many other 9 year old girls had been firing off Uzis that day. We do not if it was many or none. One death is a fluke. A death two or three years later is still a fluke. Had the instructor been behind her, he probably would not have been hit.
I used to have a golf instructor that used to stand too close to me when having me swing away. I would always have to have him back up a few feet until he was in an area where I did not think I would accidentally hit him. Here, a 9 year old would not know that, nor would she be fully aware of what the Uzi is going to do. Fault is not hers, it is the instructor’s and he has paid for his mistake.
Paul,
A Freak accident is when you can’t foresee it happening.
This was completely avoidable, and being that it just happened 3 years ago in the exact same manner, tho, it was the child who put a bullet in his own head….
Then this is NOT a freak accident….
It is FREAKISHLY stupid to put an Uzi into the hands of a 9 Year old….
I feel safer out in the middle of Missouri where just about anyone can carry open or concealed than I do in places like NYC where schmucks like Bloomberg outlaw guns so that only outlaws can have guns. [one sentence]
JAG, I think geography has more of an influence on attitudes toward guns than political ideology. I grew up in the northeast which has few hunters and gun owners. I know many pretty conservative folks out there who are anti gun. That’s why the Newtown shooting was so strange. I know Newtown well. I grew up 20 or so miles from Newtown. I played football games against Newtown High School. Paul Newman, Keith Richards, Martha Stewart, and many elites live within 10 or so miles of Newtown for chrissake. When I moved to the Midwest I was a liberal Vista volunteer. I moved to Kansas City and it was a culture shock to know people who had guns. I only knew one person growing up who had guns, my Uncle Nick who hunted rabbits. I never saw his guns, just knew he had them locked up. I too am for reasonable restrictions but I don’t know enough about guns to give an informed opinion as to what is reasonable. I see gun nuts. I also see people who truly want to make guns illegal and they help feed the paranoia. The vast majority are common sense about guns. Hell, the vast majority of people are common sense about most issues. But. it’s the fringes on both ends that make the most noise.
Nick – Paul Newman was a flaming liberal. Not sure how you can call the area conservative because Paul Newman lived there.
I can’t help but wonder at how we came to object to regulation that would keep an automatic weapon out of the hands of a 9 year old, but criminally charge a woman for permitting an 11 year old to stay in the car while she shopped. (http://www.wfsb.com/story/25982048/bristol-mother-charged-with-leaving-child-unattended-in-car)
Yeah, Justa, maybe you’re right. There have been liberals out protesting in the streets everywhere and I just haven’t seen them. Then again, maybe people are taking to the Internet to vent their opinions where it’s less obvious to the world instead of demonstrating in the streets where the media will see it and show it on the news where Everyone will be inspired by it. Like in Egypt. That type of thing hasn’t happened in the US since the 1960’s though. Not like then.