Replies

Here's some testimony from the teenager who was standing with the boy when the boy killed himself. Michael_Spano: Father of Christopher Bizilj wanted sons to shoot "full automatic":

Spano told the jury in Hampden Superior Court that Christopher's 11-year-old brother Colin had been firing a full-size Uzi. When that weapon malfunctioned, Spano presented the Bizilj's with a similar weapon -- the Micro Uzi. But, Spano testified, he warned the Bizilj party that the Micro Uzi "kicks hard and shoots fast."
Under cross-examination, defense attorney Rosemary Curran Scapicchio asked Spano if Dr. Bizilj approved of his sons' use of the Micro Uzi because "he wanted them to have the experience of a fully automatic firearm." Spano said Scapicchio's description was accurate.

Other reports indicate that the father signed a waiver that included the warning that risks included death.

This report from when the lawsuit was filed suggests the kid didn't shoot himself because the gun kicked, but rather that the kid accidentally pulled the trigger when trying to hold the gun after it slipped off his shoulder:

The details in the court documents show the gun apparently went off when the boy was attempting to keep it from falling after the stock of the weapon slipped down from his shoulder. His father, Dr. Charles D. Bizilj, who brought Christopher and his 11-year-old brother Colin, to the show, had been ordered to remain away from the firing line behind restraining ropes, according to the suit.

I don't know which is more accurate, that description of the suit, or what is being said here that the kickback made the gun spin around.

Whatever the case, a lot of more people could have died than just the 8-year-old; if the kid couldn't control the gun, he could have shot almost anybody at the fair.

Whatever the case, a lot of more people could have died than just the 8-year-old; if the kid couldn't control the gun, he could have shot almost anybody at the fair.

True that. I like driftdiver's approach; 8 years old is just too darned young to have the physical development needed for control. I was a farmboy at 8 years - in pretty good shape - and *I* wouldn't trust me with the full-auto at that age. No way; no how.

All that said, Thanks, Charles, for the links. My small-town paper doesn't have near the depth.