I am a proud Canadian and I admit that I do not completely understand the near obsessive gun culture in the United States of America. I realize that the history of our two countries is drastically different. I undertand that when the American Constitution was written, the country was young and feared retaliation from the British after the USA independence. America did not have a National Army at the time and therefore would have to rely on a Self Armed Militia for its defense. And thus the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution was a reasonable provision at the time.
All of that being said, and with all do respect to the NRA, all legally and properly regulated gun ranges everywhere, who puts an uzi in the hands of a child except for the extremists leaders who endoctrinate children in their revolutionary armies after his/her hench persons have killed the child's parents and burned their village.
I understand that the parents were present at the gun range when Mr. Vacca was accidentaly shot. I am not sure of all the circumstances. As would I, I am assuming that the parents of the nine year old have purposely stayed away from the media, at least until all investigations are complete. Perhaps she begged her parents and since they were on vacation from NJ, they thought it would be ok, just this once. Maybe they figured that since it was a gun range with a good reputation that it would be safe. Perhaps they concluded that since Mr. Vacca was an army veteran, nothing bad could happen. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
I reiterate that I am not an American and I disagree with the 2nd Amendment as it stand in the present. There are times when my children have asked to do things to which I have emphatically said no and wondered afterwards if I had denied some intrical experience that would help mature them and teach them a vital life lesson. If this has occured, I have not seen any major damage to them as of yet. They are both teenagers and seem to be adjusting to life as can reasonably expected from adolescents.
If I were to assign blame to anyone in this situation most certainly it is not the child. No matter what she asked or said; how she may have begged or cried; even if she threw her self on the ground and gave a tantrum to rival that of a toddler, she is absolutely and unequivocally not at fault.
I do not place fault on any one adult. There were several in this situation that should have known better. Firstly, the parents should have said no. Although I am not certain if the family owned guns, if they were hunters, or if the child had been trained in the use of other firearms, I don't think that anyone needs to be a gun specialist to realize that a nine year old is not physically capable of handling the power of a fully automatic sub machine gun. I am a 44 year old and I am quite sure that I could not handle the recoil of such a weapon.
If for what ever reason the parents were not knowledgeable of this or were over come by the child's insistance, the operator or reception individual that first conversed with the family and provided them with the information and all the waivers (there were many I am sure) should have informed them that their child was to small for such a weapon.
Mr. Vacca, though the one who ultimately paid the price, has to be held accountable. A veteran and with that a hero, must have been aware of the force of the weapon. And in turn, drawn the conclusion that this child was just physically incapable to maintain control.
Ultimately and at the end of the day this was a tragic accident. However, if the adults making the decisions, and I mean ALL the adults because there were many, had only taken a moment to pause and think through all the possible scenarios, it is an accident that could have been avoided.
0 comments:
Post a Comment