In a tragic incident, a nine year old girl unintentionally shot and killed her Firearms Instructor with a fully automatic firearm. It is a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the instructor, the girl, and both families.
Yes, the incident was preventable. The obvious issue was that the firearm was too powerful for her to safely wield and operate. I don't like to speak ill of the dead but I place the blame for this incident at the feet of the Firearms Instructor. Unfortunately, he paid the ultimate price - his life.
From time to time, I train minors with the parent's presence and consent. I leave nothing to chance when doing so. Safety has the utmost priority. As an example, I would start with only loading one round of ammunition into the firearm and position myself physically to ensure that the student has complete control of the gun just in case I need to intervene.
Some of you are saying that a person that young should not be taught how to shoot a firearm in the first place. That view is rather myopic. For one, I have trained adults who because of societal brainwashing were absolutely terrified to even look at a firearm. I followed the same protocol with nervous adult shooters as I would with a child. Safety is job one in the shooting stall.
Teaching children about firearms is the absolute best way to remove the curiosity about them and to instill a healthy respect for them. By not keeping them in ignorance, we will ensure that they won't have any urges to play with them - at home or at someone else's home - or taking them to school for an impromptu show and tell presentation in the lunchroom. Furthermore, the state of Michigan issues hunting licenses to 10 year-olds and minors with guns have successfully defended themselves against home-invaders.
In the end, this tragedy was a training accident. I do not believe the young lady intended to kill the Firearms Instructor. She should not be charged with any criminal offenses and hopefully she will received counseling to deal with the incident.
Last night, I debated the issue of whether young children should be allowed to shoot firearms at gun ranges on a local Detroit evening news program - Let It Rip. Check out the conversation below:
Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston
About The Author
Rick Ector is a National Rifle Association credentialed Firearms Trainer, who provides Michigan CCW Class training in Detroit for students at his firearms school - Rick's Firearm Academy of Detroit. Ector is a recognized expert in firearm safety and has been featured extensively in the national and local media: Associated Press, UPI, NRAnews, Guns Digest, Tactical-Life, The Truth About Guns, The Politics Daily, Fox News Detroit, The Detroit News, The Detroit Examiner, WJLB, WGPR, and the UrbanShooterPodcast.
For more info about free shooting lessons for women and Michigan CCW Classes, please contact:
Rick's Firearm Academy of Detroit
Web: http://www.detroitccw.com.
Email: info@detroitccw.com
Phone: 313.733.74
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