"Jman" wrote in message
...
Man, I guess some people "just don't get it" and likely never will....
This tragedy was Completely 100% avoidable!

Yes, it was.


When are people going to realize that the 'deadly toys' that they
choose to play with, like that of a fully automatic weapon is for
killing 'people' and not used for sport.

Except by people who like to use them for sport. The same is true for a .45
autoloader pistol.

Definitely something that
should NEVER be introduced to a kid.

Kids shouldn't be shooting full-auto firearms.

There's a reason these things
are Grandfathered for Christ Sakes !

The reason is that they met too much political resistance when they tried to
outlaw them. There are on the order of 100,000 registered, fully automatic
firearms in civilian hands in the US. Considering their value and what one
has to go through to get one, the number is not likely to decline
noticeably.


Kids and guns don't MIX no matter what their age is....

I was shooting semiautomatic M1 carbines on a Police Athletic
League-sponsored Junior DCM team when I was 13. At that point I had been
shooting for three years and had five sharpshooter bars, and a BSA
Marksmanship Merit Badge.

Without knowing where you live or grew up, it's hard to know what's shaped
your attitude. Where I grew up, practically all kids were shooting by the
time they were 12 or 13. We had no troublesome incidents. We were
well-taught, in the Boy Scouts, in the PAL, and by our parents. Handling
guns in that rural, traditional area (NE Pennsylvania) was a right of
passage, like religious confirmation. If you never experienced it you'd find
that there was a strong, community-wide expectation that kids who passed
into it were expected to acquire a new level of maturity and responsibility.
As I look back on it, it was pretty remarkable, compared to the way kids are
brought up today.

Introducing a
Child to a gun and certainly a fully automatic ANYTHING is 'just
wrong' and any parent who let's them do it is a F---ING IDIOT !

Fully automatic guns are not for kids. Neither are semis, in my opinion.

I doubt very much anyone would want to be in this parents shoes....
This guy has to live with his sons blood on his hands for the rest of
his life and so should he.....

Yup. He was an idiot.


There is no reason one needs to introduce a dangerous weapon (even if
it's a .22) to any kid at such a young age. 14 would be a better age
for the LEGAL introduction of a REAL gun for sport or hunting purposes

Eleven is fine for most kids, if they're under strict supervision, as we
were.

and until then, MAYBE a small pellet gun would suffice for the Die-
Hards who JUST have to arm their children with something !

Pellet guns are a mixed blessing. The big problem with them is that it's
easy for kids (and for adults, as you've just demonstrated) to dismiss their
seriousness. I wasn't allowed to have an air rifle until I'd had a .22 for
two years, and a shotgun for one. The same was true for several of my
friends. They're just too likely to be treated as toys by very young kids.
If it goes "bang," it's easier to impress a kid with the seriousness of the
whole thing.

--
Ed Huntress