# Of course a nine-year-old girl can handle a Uzi, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631 "2014-08-27T14:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/21 "2014-08-27T16:44:30Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Man, that kid’s life is ruined. How do you get over having shot and killed a guy at 9? ☹ Adlai Stevenson accidentally killed a friend when he was 12 [Adlai Stevenson II - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson_II#Early_life_and_education) and managed to live with the incident (I’m not going to say he ever got over it). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/22 "2014-08-27T16:54:55Z")
I actually dated a guy who, when he was a pre-teen, stole some fireworks with a friend and the explosion of said fireworks subsequently killed his little sister. He “lived with it” too but, still…that’s gotta be a tattoo on your soul. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/23 "2014-08-27T16:57:51Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I could’t tell by the clip, but was the stock extended on the Uzi? I don’t care what you see in movies or TV, when you first try out something like that, you extend the stock and either hold it against your shoulder or between your elbow and your torso. It looked to me as though it was, but even with that, I question whether a nine-year-old could be expected to safely control a weapon designed for a fully-grown adult. It seems like she’d just be too small to maintain a reliable firm grip on the thing, and brace it properly. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/24 "2014-08-27T16:57:57Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > In Vietnam, when Special Forces advisors were training Montagnards and Hmongs in using full auto weapons, they’d use M-60s with 6 round belts and M-16 magazines with 5 rounds. They’d work up to full belts and mags. > > I could’t tell by the clip, but was the stock extended on the Uzi? I don’t care what you see in movies or TV, when you first try out something like that, you extend the stock and either hold it against your shoulder or between your elbow and your torso. I’m wondering if this guy was really a firearms instructor, or if he was just a family friend. Any competent instructor wouldn’t give an inexperienced adult an automatic weapon with a full magazine, let alone a child. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/25 "2014-08-27T17:04:22Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > I’m wondering if this guy was really a firearms instructor, or if he was just a family friend. Any competent instructor wouldn’t give an inexperienced adult an automatic weapon with a full magazine, let alone a child. The article says he was a gun instructor at the Last Stop outdoor shooting range. Yes, the irony of the name is apparent. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/26 "2014-08-27T17:06:39Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I could’t tell by the clip, but was the stock extended on the Uzi? I don’t care what you see in movies or TV, when you first try out something like that, you extend the stock and either hold it against your shoulder or between your elbow and your torso. It’s clear there is no stock on the Uzi – if you look at the linked video (it does not show anything off-putting, other than giving a fully automatic weapon to a little girl) about 2/3rd of the way through, you can see clearly there is no stock. This just blows my mind. I’ve fired a fully automatic Uzi with a stock, and that thing is no joke to control. I think the Darwin Award-sort of comments are in extremely poor taste, but the lack of judgment in this tragedy is barely comprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/27 "2014-08-27T17:12:48Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The article says he was a gun instructor at the Last Stop outdoor shooting range. > > Yes, the irony of the name is apparent. Yes, the article said that. I read the article, hence my knowledge that he was an alleged firearms instructor. I’m doubting that he was actually an instructor. Reporters get details wrong, the reporter could have assumed that he was an instructor, or he could have been misled by the involved parties. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/28 "2014-08-27T17:16:37Z")
Those parents should be charged with child abuse for letting a nine year old have access to an automatic weapon. They should be the ones who should bear the burden of living with this, not the girl. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/29 "2014-08-27T17:21:11Z")
\*Vacca was standing next to the girl at the \*\*Last Stop \*\*outdoor shooting range \* From the OP’s link. An appropriate name for the range. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/30 "2014-08-27T17:22:39Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Those parents should be charged with child abuse for letting a nine year old have access to an automatic weapon. They should be the ones who should bear the burden of living with this, not the girl. I’ve fired several automatic weapons from that age. It wasn’t abuse. What happened was a tragedy caused by the incompetence of this alleged instructor–not the parents. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/31 "2014-08-27T17:26:31Z")
[a more thorough article here.](http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/us/arizona-girl-fatal-shooting-accident/index.html?hpt=hp_t2) > [@CNN](#): > > Sam Scarmardo, who operates Bullets and Burgers, told KLAS they “really don’t know what happened.” > > “Our guys are trained to basically hover over people when they’re shooting,” he said. “If they’re shooting right-handed, we have our right-hand behind them ready to push the weapon out of the way. And if they’re left-handed, the same thing.” So apparently an out-of-control Uzi was not unexpected. Not clear what happened in this particular case. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/32 "2014-08-27T17:26:49Z")
Hmmm. In the IDF, Uzis are usually issued to women (M-16s and Galils to men). At least AFAIR a while ago. Of course, they are rarely fired full-auto. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/33 "2014-08-27T17:35:17Z")
Adult IDF female soldier \> 9 year old civilian, male or female ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/34 "2014-08-27T17:36:26Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Adult IDF female soldier \> 9 year old civilian, male or female “Adult” = 18yo in this case. And no one said otherwise. But it is still considered a “girl’s weapon” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/35 "2014-08-27T17:42:42Z")
Another “range expert” makes the rest of us look like negligent idiots. When I teach younger people to shoot rifles, it’s a .22 bolt-action with great diligence practiced. I’m still a little confused of how “possess” under the NFA has been interpreted to mean “you can borrow someone’s NFA weapon and fire it with impunity.” How is this legal? By claiming they were “instructing” a 9-year-old who wouldn’t be eligible to buy an Uzi under NFA for 12 more years? ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/36 "2014-08-27T17:47:48Z")
Posts in this thread indicate that the Uzi the little girl was using was FULL automatic. Help me out, aren’t fully automatic weapons supposed to be illegal? As in, NOBODY can get a license for them? That said, I’m pro gun control as it is but one incident don’t equal a trend. Can’t see people on my side legitimately using this tragedy as an argument for more gun control. This is about the same as the road incident that killed the Hollywood director, Alan Pakula. A FREAK accident. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/37 "2014-08-27T17:50:59Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Another “range expert” makes the rest of us look like negligent idiots. You’re not kidding. Check out [these selections from his Facebook page.](http://www.balloon-juice.com/2014/08/26/bitter-irony/) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/38 "2014-08-27T17:52:28Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > Posts in this thread indicate that the Uzi the little girl was using was FULL automatic. Help me out, aren’t fully automatic weapons supposed to be illegal? As in, NOBODY can get a license for them? This is incorrect. Someone else will supply the details, but you can get a license for fully automatic weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/39 "2014-08-27T17:57:59Z")
If your state and local laws don’t prohibit ownership, following a buttload of paperwork and a signature from local LE, you can pay a crazy amount of money and buy one of the weapons from the pool of existing legal full autos. There have been no new ones since 1986. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/40 "2014-08-27T17:58:04Z")
Insane madness. Parents, the shooting range, Las Vegas law… wtf. Is it any wonder that people outside of the US thinks Americans are fucking nuts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631.md?page=3)