# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/81 "2014-08-27T22:46:00Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > How long did it take you to get over the guy you killed when you were 9? When I was in second grade I was in the school yard throwing rocks at a wall when a kindergartner strayed in my path and I beaned her right in the head. There was, to my mind at least, an awful lot of blood, but, thankfully, it was just a minor cut and she didn’t even require stitches. That was nearly 32 year ago and when I think about it I _still_ feel bad about beaning her in the head. In case you’re wondering about the point behind this little tangent it’s this; if I care about a minor injury I gave someone over three decades ago I recognize that she’ll always remember the time she accidentally killed someone. I bet that little girl I beaned still remembers the time some asshole hit her in the head with a rock. However, plenty of children suffer serious trauma of one kind or another and grow up to be adults who are functioning member of society living meaningful lives. Suffering a trauma of some kind doesn’t necessarily mean your life is ruined. And I think it would be very unhealthy for anyone around her to treat her as if her life was ruined because of this. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/82 "2014-08-27T23:05:43Z")
If it’s good enough for drugged-up involuntary child soldiers, it’s good enough for an American girl. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/83 "2014-08-27T23:23:22Z")
Nothing is more macho or cool than a machine designed to kill a bunch of people quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/84 "2014-08-27T23:24:48Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > In case you’re wondering about the point behind this little tangent it’s this; if I care about a minor injury I gave someone over three decades ago I recognize that she’ll always remember the time she accidentally killed someone. I bet that little girl I beaned still remembers the time some asshole hit her in the head with a rock. And the gun instructor will always remember the time he was shot in the head by a girl. Wait, what? (too soon?) ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/85 "2014-08-27T23:26:04Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Nothing is more macho or cool than a machine designed to kill a bunch of people quickly. Well, it beats a slow death. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/86 "2014-08-27T23:29:51Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > And the gun instructor will always remember the time he was shot in the head by a girl. Wait, what? (too soon?) I need jokes in that kind of vein like I need another hole in my head! ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/87 "2014-08-27T23:31:47Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I need jokes in that kind of vein like I need another hole in my head! Are you a gun instructor too? (sorry, I couldn’t resist) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/88 "2014-08-27T23:34:03Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I really can’t imagine what parents, gun range or instructor could be thinking… I can hazard a guess that the instructor isn’t thinking anything at the moment. And I find myself having zero compassion or sorrow for his loss. ---
**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 28, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/89 "2014-08-28T00:09:16Z")
Can New Jersey Children’s Protective Services go after these parents? They traveled interstate to take a 9 year old to a gun range to use a federally licensed fully automatic firearm and a man was killed. This must be child endangerment. The kid could have been injured too. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/90 "2014-08-28T00:48:23Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > “Adult” = 18yo in this case. And no one said otherwise. But it is still considered a “girl’s weapon” 🙂 An 18-year-old is still not a 9-year-old. A BB gun? Yes. A hunting rifle? Sure. A fully automatic weapon? I don’t think so. It’s not because she’s a girl – it’s because she’s a kid. Kids aren’t miniature adults. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/91 "2014-08-28T00:52:11Z")
The uzi was designed for lightweight, easy concealment, for use by the Isreali Security Services. It’s light weight means there is no mass to absorb the kickback from a 9mm round. When was a kid, I was in a Boy Scout Troop which had an agreement with the local NRA. I recovered. Point is - we were given old M1s re-bored for 22 LR, single round. Those monsters were so heavy, we could only fire from prone position - no 8 yr old is going to lift it to his shoulder. We learned how firearms work, how to load, how to aim. and we didn’t accidentally shoot anybody. All with zero chance of going wild. Do the parents of these small kids with uzis ever fire such a weapon? Feel the kick? And the “look jimmy - an uzi just your size!” idiot is beyond comprehension - the smaller the weapon, the greater the kickback. It took the 8 yr old three rounds before the gun was upright enough to shoot his head. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/92 "2014-08-28T01:03:29Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > The uzi was designed for lightweight, easy concealment, for use by the Isreali Security Services. Not really. It was designed to be simple to manufacture (all stamped metal) and simple to use, not necessarily to be the most effective or precise weapon. 1950s Israel could not afford expensive arms 🙂 Israeli Special Forces adopted it later, for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/93 "2014-08-28T01:05:30Z")
A couple of points have been raised: The Uzi in question was owned by the owner of the gun range. The Uzi in question never left the gun range (until it was taken as evidence, probably). So, it was legal for the owner or his agent to rent it to someone else to use _on the range_. There were 2 stocks available for that size Uzi. There was a wooden stock and a folding metal stock. Very few with wooden stocks made it to the US. I can’t imagine anyone removing a folding stock from one, it’s part of it’s panache and isn’t in the way when it’s folded. And Uzis got a bad rap in the US and ganstas will refer to any small full auto (like MACs or Tec 9s) as Uzis. IMI (Israeli Military Industries) did make a semi auto carbine version of their Uzi for sale in the US. Besides having a 16.5 inch barrel to make it legal (in the US, you can’t have a stock, fixed or folding, on a pistol. You can on a carbine, but to be a carbine, it’s got to have a minimum 16" barrel) but the semi auto fired from a closed bolt, not an open bolt like the full auto version. A completely different action, so it wouldn’t be a case of just swapping out some parts to turn it into a full auto. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/94 "2014-08-28T01:19:45Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I bet that little girl I beaned still remembers the time some asshole hit her in the head with a rock. As will we all. Thank you for shedding light on your POV…! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/95 "2014-08-28T01:39:46Z")
I don’t think you people are seeing the problem here. The problem is that if you testicle-less lightweights didn’t frown so much on guns, this girl would have been given a loaded Uzi with the safety off and set to automatic in her crib. Then, by age 9 she would have been able to handle one properly. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/96 "2014-08-28T01:45:23Z")
Just like every red blooded terrorist kid. You don’t see any terrorist kids accidentally shooting their face off. The key is to start training before birth. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14IejPfGKUM) ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/97 "2014-08-28T01:52:47Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > 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. American man. > [@Terr](#): > > “Adult” = 18yo in this case. And no one said otherwise. But it is still considered a “girl’s weapon” 🙂 (The same)American man. > [@PorchePine](#): > > Israelis are a tougher bunch than most nationalities. American man. > [@Alessan](#): > > And under no circumstances whatsoever are they \*ever \*fired without the stock open and pressed to the shoulder or hip. I mean, for fuck’s sake. It may have been 21 years since I qualified on the Uzi, but at least I remember _that_. Actual Israeli IDF veteran. Offered with no further comment as this is not The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/98 "2014-08-28T01:58:25Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > American man. True. Also, Israeli citizen who served in the IDF. And American man. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/99 "2014-08-28T02:12:43Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Then your parents should be charged with child abuse as well as far as I’m concerned. Just because you feel you didn’t suffer doesn’t make it abuse. It’s reckless behavior to let a minor operate a weapon that requires a federal license to own. Would it be OK if they let them play with rattlesnakes? Let them drive a car? Why is it any different from letting a kid go to a racetrack and drive top fuel dragster? You do know that there is a difference between a go kart and dragster right? A reasonable person would call that not only stupid but child endangerment. The parents should be jailed. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Can New Jersey Children’s Protective Services go after these parents? They traveled interstate to take a 9 year old to a gun range to use a federally licensed fully automatic firearm and a man was killed. This must be child endangerment. The kid could have been injured too. I’m sure the _whole_ purpose of the trip was _just_ to take her to a shooting range in another state most of the way across the country. :rolleyes: > [@Jace Zack](#): > > the instructor was probably the most criminally negligent person involved in the accident for having allowed the child to hold the gun without enough training. > > “The parents aren’t culpable,” Zack said. “They trusted the instructor to know what he was doing, and the girl could not possibly have comprehended the potential dangers involved.” While I personally wouldn’t let a 9yo fire anything more than a pump BB gun the parent were paying for lessons from a so-called professional. _IF_ I was going to do that, I’d expect a professional would know what he is doing by 1) training her properly & 2) following all safety precautions, including standing in the proper place to prevent her from doing something unsafe with the gun. I feel confident that he won’t make this mistake again. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631/100 "2014-08-28T02:30:14Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > 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. The whole point of the place was to let people play with automatic weapons. To call it “instruction” is a complete misnomer. This is not an “intro to safe shooting” program. It’s pure entertainment. And not remotely appropriate for the child that is now going to be permanently scarred for life. The person supervising the shooter was suppose to stand to the side the gun is held on and keep it from recoiling. And the reason this is done was demonstrated in this unintended training video. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-a-nine-year-old-girl-can-handle-a-uzi-right/696631.md?page=6)