Cupcakes, ice cream — and guns — make up the ingredients of the birthday party package that a Lewisville shooting range offers for kids.
And, since it opened two years ago, the Eagle Gun Range says, it’s remained steadfast in its emphasis on safety.
“We’ve thought about what could go wrong,” owner David Prince said. “We know that common sense is key.”
The debate over kids’ access to guns resurfaced after a 9-year-old girl firing a fully automatic Uzi submachine fatally shot her 39-year-old gun range instructor Monday in White Hills, Ariz.
Captured on video taken by the girl’s parents, Charles Vacca was standing next to her as she squeezed the trigger of the military-grade weapon. The recoil pushed the muzzle upward. Vacca was hit in the head and died later in a hospital.
Prosecutors say they do not plan to file charges.
The shooting range, like most others, had an age limit for users and safety rules for teaching children to shoot.
Many local experts called the Arizona shooting a freak accident but said parents should use caution when allowing their children around powerful weapons.
At the federal and state level, laws that restrict kids’ possession of guns, especially at shooting ranges, are scant, said Michele Byington, a Houston lawyer who regularly deals with gun rights cases.
Texas bars a child under 17 from possessing a firearm unless he or she is supervised by an adult and is using the weapon for hunting, sporting or another lawful purpose.
Texas also holds adults liable for failing to secure their weapons from children.
Gun ranges are free to set their own standards — including the minimum age for patrons and the types of weapons they can use.
The Eagle Gun Range and the newly opened Frisco Gun Club both require shooters to be at least 8 years old.
Parents can pick any type of firearm for their child at the Eagle Gun Range, and instructors keep close tabs on patrons — young and old — to make sure they are firing safely, Prince said.
The range offers rifle rests and earphones, encourages loading one cartridge at a time and tethers automatic firearms to the desk to mitigate recoil injuries.
“Shooting is a sport,” Prince said. “And like any other sport, it’s inherently dangerous. … We do our best in this world to mitigate the risks.”
He said all of his instructors receive National Rifle Association certification training. He plans to show them a video of the Arizona shooting as a reminder to be safe on the range.
“Re-emphasizing safety is never a waste of time,” he said. The accident is “just a chilling reminder that life is precious. We need to be on guard at all times.”
Laura Cutilletta of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a group that seeks to curtail gun violence, said the Arizona incident shows that authorities need to look closer at shooting ranges.
She favors prohibiting young children from having access to military-grade weapons.
“We don’t want to wait until the next tragedy occurs. It makes sense to try to prevent it,” she said.
Claire Elizabeth, spokeswoman for the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said Texas’ pro-gun tradition should not hinder broader talks about firearms safety.
“The most important starting place is to have people talk about it,” she said.
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