Monday, shooting range instructor Charles Vacca was accidentally shot and killed when a 9-year-old girl lost control of an Uzi.
As one might expect, there is much debate over who to blame for this unfortunate accident.
Joe Scarborough weighed in on Wednesday, questioning the wisdom of placing such a dangerous weapon in the hands of such a young child.
“A 9-year-old girl!” he exclaimed. “What is wrong with these people? What is wrong with these people? The first time I saw it, I was so shocked. I say this as the father of an 11-year-old girl! Who would put an Uzi in the hands of a 9-year-old girl? What is wrong with these people?”
“What is wrong with this culture? Why would they do that? What right is advanced by doing that?” he asked. “A man is dead, and they’ve ruined a little girl’s life. For what?”
In an unsurprising move, the NRA has said the opposite, putting out a tweet with an attached article that listed all the ways that children can have fun at a gun range. The tweet said, “7 Ways Children Can Have Fun At The Shooting Range.” The tweet has since been removed, but thanks to the Huffington Post, the tweet was saved with a screen capture.
The article that was linked in the tweet was from a publication called Women’s Outdoor News. The article basically says that children really need to be constantly entertained while they are shooting their guns at the range, otherwise they will become “bored.”
“When children begin shooting, traditional bull’s-eye targets are perfect for working on safety skills. They’re also good for zeroing your rifle before hunting or competitions. However, if children continually shoot the same bull’s-eye target, they can become tired, exhausted or bored. As the boredom sets in, the effort that goes into shooting can deteriorate. In our case we have youth competitors, i.e. LG and friends, who train on a regular basis. Sometimes they want, or rather need, to have fun at the range. That’s when it’s time to introduce other types of targets to change things up, so children can have fun on the range.”
Appearing this morning on NBC’s Today Show, Vacca’s family said they felt “sorry” for the girl who accidentally shot their loved one. “We know it was a tragic accident and that it’s something that we’re all going to have to live with,” Vacca’s 19-year-old daughter Ashley said in the exclusive NBC News interview. She also told NBC that she was planning on sending her a letter, adding:
“We really do want the prayers to be going out to the family of the little girl. Our thoughts and our prayers are with them. We don’t want their life to revolve around this.”
Vacca’s ex-wife, Anamarie, told NBC: “My heart goes out to the little girl and I feel sorry for her and for her family.”
So, who is to blame for this tragic accident? It seems most are divided into one of two camps:
1) Shit happens, kids should be encouraged to play with guns;
2) No one in their right mind would place such a dangerous weapon in the hands of such a young child.
What are your thought? Be sure to let us know in the comments, below.
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