The accidental shooting death of a firing-range instructor by a nine-year-old girl with an Uzi has intensified a debate over youngsters and guns, with many Americans wondering what sort of parents would let a child handle a submachine gun.
Instructor Charles Vacca, 39, was standing next to the girl on Monday at the Last Stop range in Arizona, south of Las Vegas, when she squeezed the trigger. The recoil wrenched the Uzi upward, and Vacca was shot in the head.
Prosecutors say they will not file charges in the case.
Many American youth grow up around guns, and taking part in their first hunt with parents is a rite of passage in rural America. But giving a child an automatic Uzi is a different story.
Gerry Hills, founder of Arizonans for Gun Safety, a group seeking to reduce gun violence, said that it was reckless to let the girl handle such a powerful weapon and that tighter regulations regarding children and guns are needed.
"We have better safety standards for who gets to ride a roller coaster at an amusement park," Hills said.
Referring to the girl's parents, Hills said: "I just don't see any reason in the world why you would allow a nine-year-old to put her hands on an Uzi."
The identities of the girl and her family have not been released.
Sam Scarmardo, who operates the outdoor range in the desert, said on Wednesday that the parents had signed waivers saying they understood the rules and were standing nearby, video-recording their daughter, when the accident happened.
Investigators released 27 seconds of the footage showing the girl from behind as she fires at a black-silhouette target. The footage, which does not show the instructor actually being shot, helped feed the furore on social media and beyond.
"I have regret we let this child shoot, and I have regret that Charlie was killed in the incident," Scarmardo said. He said he doesn't know what went wrong, pointing out that Vacca was an Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jace Zack, chief deputy for the Mohave County Attorney's Office, said 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."
Two gun experts said on Wednesday that what types of firearms a child can handle depend largely on the strength and experience of the child - though the notion of giving a nine-year-old a fully automatic Uzi made some queasy.
