The death of an Arizona gun instructor killed by a 9-year-old who was firing a fully automatic Uzi has touched off a debate about whether children should have access to such high-powered weaponry.
Charles Vacca, Jr., 39, died from a single gunshot to the head, Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy confirmed Wednesday.
Vacca was teaching the child how to shoot an Uzi at the Bullets and Burgers shooting range in White Hills, in northern Arizona, when the recoil sent the gun over her head and caused Vacca to be shot, sheriff’s officials said.
Video of the incident released by local authorities shows the 9-year-old girl, clad in pink shorts with a braid in her hair, lose control of the weapon shortly after Vacca had instructed her how to use it.
The death prompted outrage from some critics who say a child that age should not have access to fully automatic weapons.
The range where Vacca was working catered to tourists, advertising transportation to and from any hotel in Las Vegas, which is about 60 miles away, as well as packages that included Hoover Dam photo opportunities.
According to a cached version of its website, the minimum age to shoot at the facility was 10 for many of the packages offered, but the owner of the business, Sam Scarmardo, told local television station KTNV that Bullets and Burgers allows children as young as 8 to shoot firearms.
Scarmardo did not return calls for comment Thursday, and there was no answer on the business phone line amid reports that the range had closed indefinitely.
Federal law bars children under 18 from possessing a firearm, but is silent on preventing children’s access to guns.
Arizona is one of 21 states in the nation that has no law restricting gun access to children under age 18, as long as there is adult supervision, said Lindsey Zwicker, an attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Currently, 28 states and the District of Columbia have laws governing child access to firearms. Connecticut passed a law that prohibits children under 16 from handling a machine gun at shooting ranges. The law came after an 8-year-old Connecticut boy was killed at a Massachusetts gun expo in 2008 after he lost control of the Uzi he was firing and shot himself in the head.
Some gun range operators say a shooting range can be a place where children can learn to shoot safely with the proper procedures.
Whether a child should be shooting any sort of gun is a decision for each family to make, said Butch Jensen, who has been an instructor for 10 years at Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range in Tucson. The key issue, he said, is training. A gun is a tool, and like any tool — be it a circular saw or a kitchen knife — requires proper instruction, he said.
The range is one of three owned and operated by Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department, and children seem to visit it with adults every day. There is no age requirement for shooting at the facility. Still, children under the age of 16 must be closely supervised by a legal guardian or parent, though those adults don't have to be certified instructors, Jensen said.
Jensen, who watched the video of the accident, said the young girl did not look “physically strong enough” to maintain control of the Uzi.
“It was clear that she was a beginner, and you don’t start a beginner in that type of firearm,” Jensen said. “If you want to learn how to run Indy cars, you don’t start at Indy.”
David Prince, who owns Eagle Gun Range in Lewisville, Texas, said he also allows kids as young as 8 to shoot at his facility, and even offers a children’s party package.
But for children and first-timers, Prince said, the range tethers weapons that might recoil to make sure the shooter can maintain control.
At the Marksman Pistol Institute I in Tucson, children have to be 10 or older and be accompanied and under the supervision of their parent to shoot at their indoor range, said Sean Yeandle, an instructor and shift manager.
Yeandle said he’s never seen an Uzi shot at his range by anyone under 21. “I don’t see us or any of the Uzi-rated instructors ever letting anyone under the age of 18 use that,” he said.
At the range, an instructor makes sure to stay behind the shooter for safety reasons and to keep control of the gun. The gun tends to recoil and drive the shooter backward.
He said the Uzi is “more difficult to handle because it’s just a firearm many people are not familiar with. Most don’t have experience with an automatic gun as it is and are not necessarily prepared to fire guns automatically.”
As for teaching a child to shoot an Uzi, he said, “the value doesn’t outweigh the risk.”
Times staff writer Lauren Raab contributed to this report.
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