Arizona shooting: Girl, nine, kills gun instructor

A nine year-old girl in the US has killed her shooting instructor by accident while being shown how to use a high-powered submachine gun.

The instructor was giving the girl a lesson at a shooting range in Arizona when the recoil from the automatic fire caused her to lose control of the Uzi.

Charles Vacca, 39, was shot in the head and died after being airlifted to a hospital in Las Vegas.

The girl was at the shooting range with her parents, who filmed the lesson.

Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28948946?ocid=socialflow_twitter

-- BBC 2014-08-27

What's a NINE year old practicing shooting for ????

Lots of Americans learn to shoot and gun safety at a young age. i learned at Boy Scout camp. A nine year-old girl using a high-powered submachine gun is very unusual though, because of the kick. We used 22s as there is almost no recoil.

Most of my friends went hunting regularly at a very young age. I never did and it is not something that I would want to do, unless my family was going hungry.

Edited August 27, 201411 yr by Ulysses G.

<deleted> is going on in the American mind that a 9 yr old goes near, let alone actually fires, a submachine gun?

Poor wee mite deprived of her childhood.

Kids dont need guns. Nor do sane people.

What's a NINE year old practicing shooting for ????

My thoughts exactly ! And a sub machine gun ?????????

Well that's one less fool contributing to the gene pool. How on earth did this shooting 'instructor' think that 9 year old can handle the recoil of an Uzi?

Pity the parents weren't in the line of fire as well but sounds like they have some nice home video to watch.

Dumb instructor. 9 year old has no business holding this sort of weapon. It was not designed for kids...nor need be utilized by kids. And he should have had control. Sad...but dumb nonetheless. This type of firing range should lose their license to do business. In any case, there should of been a physical barrier on both sides of the shooter (to limit the angle of fire). Instructor should have been behind.

I think the lesson was ill advised to say the least... She should have had practice with lower caliber weapons first ... An Uzi is a heavy weight weapon and any recoil could put a weak arm in a very bad position as was born out. Back in the day in the Army as a grown man I fired Uzis and it was quite a bit different than the many other weapons I had previously used..

Bless the little girl as this will always be a trauma to her...

However, in a free society - risks are taken ... but due caution should be taken too.

The only one i have sympathy for is the young girl.

Gun ownership is one of those American "values" that ought not be shared with the rest of the world.

Nine year old baby is practicing shooting. She just ditched the diaper but is already a murderer thanks to her irresponsible parents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA4x8cDrU2k

Instructors mistake...he didn't tell her about the recoil and lost his life because of it.

According to live interview with the gun range owner, the girl lost control when the gun recoil came up to her left and one round struck him in the head killing him as the video showed (video cut off just prior to the accident). Now she will carry a life long image of the result. A similar accident occurred in 2008 with a young boy who shot him self with an Uzi but his father was instructing him privately. He lost control the same way but the gun came straight up ( did a 180).

Me think that an AK47 would be more appropriate for a 9 years child...

And what would be the right gun for a 5 years kid?

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So guns don't kill people or so they say, well this one sure as hell did ! Maybe she ought to try martial arts instead. Poor kid dumb parents.

OTT post laced with profanity removed.

What does a 9 year old girl stand to gain from learning how to fire an automatic weapon?

9yr old girl? learning to fire an Uzi machine gun!?

do they not have Barbie Dolls in Arizona?

What's a NINE year old practicing shooting for ????

TIA (This Is America).

It is quite astonishing that the parents have put the video on you tube. I can't quite believe it. Then again I would not believe they have their daughter firing an Uzi. Perhaps instead of parents taking children to weapons lessons, children should be taking parents to 'effective parenting' lessons.

This is sickening and stupid. Regardless of legality, it's stupid.

That gun will fire, depending on ammo, about 10 rounds per second. It will empty a 50 round magazine in 5 seconds. FWIW, that's about $25 worth of ammo in 5 seconds.

There is no way a 9 year old girl can control the muzzle climb. At the least the instructor was supposed to also be holding the gun.

It is true that many young Americans learn to shoot at a young age, but the gun is appropriate to the size of the person. I've never seen a child be given full control of a gun even if it was just a .22 rifle. For one thing, the child can lose focus and turn around and point the gun at everyone in sight. An adult maintains control of the weapon.

I don't know what this was about. That gun is rare in American civilian possession and most people have never seen one. It might be worth about US$30,000 or more because importing or manufacturing them for sale is outlawed. The guns that were here in the 1990's are grandfathered and are called "pre-ban." If you want one you have to find a willing seller after you get a complicated and expensive license for it from the Feds. (BATF.)

This must have been some kind of idiocy on the part of some rich parents. The instructor as an employee, or the shooting range had to own that gun and be right there to allow someone else to shoot it. That's the law.

Wait for the civil lawsuit to hit. It will be well into the $millions. The parents and instructor and owners/managers of the firing range should be charged with any one of a number of crimes such as reckless endangerment, endangering a child... Whatever.

So sad that the girl has to live with this "adult" stupidity.

Ridiculous idea. The parents should be blamed for asking to let her fire an Uzi. I've fired them and they are so heavy and ergonomically incorrect they are next to useless.

If you ever teach someone to fire a gun stand behind them. No second chances.

Has the NRA issued a statement? The gun did its job no fault there.

Lots of Americans learn to shoot and gun safety at a young age. i learned at Boy Scout camp. A nine year-old girl using a high-powered submachine gun is very unusual though, because of the kick. We used 22s as there is almost no recoil.

Most of my friends went hunting regularly at a very young age. I never did and it is not something that I would want to do, unless my family was going hungry.

Amazingly enough I taught myself to shoot a .22 caliber single shot rifle... as my older brother was gone off to the Navy and my Dad worked long shifts at the steel plant ... I learned from observation from what I had seen my cousins do ... so I drug out my brother's bolt action .22 and taught myself at about age 6 or 7... I taught myself many things - how to use a .22 short round at an angle ... a weak round - that at a distance I had to arc the round to get enough range to hit the bottles far down the back fields.

In later life leading up to going to the Vietnam war ... while in Army basic training I was ask - told to train others who just didn't get it ... It was nice to have such a talent - self taught... Gun safety became ingrained as I had to sleep with my M-16 and side arm when out on jungle patrol.

Children or any novice should be introduced to shooting in stages - smaller caliber to larger. No one should be given a gun that is too big or too heavy to handle. The man made a mistake and paid for with his life ... I feel really bad about the little girl - sad situation.

An Uzi is not a plinking rifle - it is heavy - short weapon with short barrel. It is a 9mm but still has a noticeable kick and it is one of the few fully automatic weapons available. It was designed to used in close quarter combat firing many bullets - eliminating anything in the path..

A child of age 9 would/should never be given the key to an 1100 cc Harley Sportster with or without direct supervision - it is not something a small child can handle. It is the reason they make 100 cc light weight bikes to be used on a closed course for learning - you learn and then graduate. Terrible Mistake - what a shame...

What does a 9 year old girl stand to gain from learning how to fire an automatic weapon?

She needs to know for the day The Man comes to take their land.

Don't ask me who The Man is. The tax man? The gummint man? I don't know.

Look out Momma there's a white boat commin' up the river.....Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassuring, he told me red means run, Son, numbers add up to nothing....

Neil Young, Powderfinger.

It's all been said, too young and too small to use such a weapon. My old man fought in 3 wars and never let us kids misuse firearms, we started on a 22 single shot rifle at age 12 and worked our way up but only after we had mastered the basics, as with any skill, hobby, sport. The parents need to be charged over this along with the range but that's America......they are unusually obsessed with fire power and shooting stuff.

Well that's one less fool contributing to the gene pool. How on earth did this shooting 'instructor' think that 9 year old can handle the recoil of an Uzi?

Pity the parents weren't in the line of fire as well but sounds like they have some nice home video to watch.

It was too late. Instructor already had kid(s) I think. Seems more blame would go towards owner of shooting range for allowing 9 year olds to shoot Uzis. (Employee refusing to teach would probably get fired).... and NRA et al that made it legal for 8 year olds to shoot. The girl is traumatized I would imagine. Too bad guys from Pawn Stars weren't there... targets worth plinking at... I am American and school, drive in etc shootings are awful enough, but this time in a supposed safe controlled environment. There is no excuse for the gun craziness in my country, and I can offer no explanation when my Euro and Aussie friends ask me. USA is one whack place. And just last week my brother in USA says he worries about me over here......

Edited August 28, 201411 yr by Emster23

Instructors mistake...

It seems as though it was an failure of the teaching procedures used.

From what I'm reading, the proper technique for teaching children unfamiliar with the recoil of an Uzi is for the instruct to keep a grip on the weapon when the student first fires it in full-auto mode in order to help them control the recoil.

It is unknown to me if this instructor failed to follow this, or the range owner failed to educate his staff on this technique.

I'm not going to come down too hard on the parents here. We can question their choice of weapon involved, but at least they were approaching it in a responsible manner. At least they sought professional training and education for their daughter who they were introducing to guns, as is their right, given the reality of the 2nd Amendment. It is not the choice I would make, but then I'm not a gun guy - never fired one in my life. That doesn't necessarily make it the wrong choice for them.

Let's hope they also take the responsible step of getting professional counselling help for the girl so that this doesn't scar her for life psychologically.

It is quite astonishing that the parents have put the video on you tube. I can't quite believe it. Then again I would not believe they have their daughter firing an Uzi. Perhaps instead of parents taking children to weapons lessons, children should be taking parents to 'effective parenting' lessons.

I cannot agree more with your post.

After such a shocking event, who in their right mind would even think "hey, lets upload this vid? Yeah, cool man" Poor kid but brainless parents.

This is the society that the republican party and the nra has released on our Country! (USA)

I saw an interview on the news where an instructor was stating that the man who was killed was doing it all wrong, he should have been on her right side, and he should have had his hand on her shoulder to steady her against the recoil...............WRONG!! .....he should not have been teaching a nine year old girl who probably weighs 20 kilos soaking wet to fire a B****dy machine gun... .what are these people smoking?