To think the world has gone mad?

Sounds like a fun day out. Sigh.

So sad, why anyone would want to teach a small child to shoot such a powerful gun in the first place is beyond me, but she will now be haunted by the fact she killed a man for the rest of her life.

That was my thought too sunseeker

My thoughts, too Can't help feeling there's a moral in there somewhere for all other instructors planning on teaching small children. It's just WRONG!!! What were the parents thinking of allowing it in the first place?

It is indeed frightening, to think this sort of thing is happening, and what I cannot understand is what sort of ammunition was being used? Surely not live, although I would imagine plastic bullets would kill at the obviously close quarters they were working in. What parent wants their child to learn how to use an automatic weapon of this kind? Are we living in a world so threatened that we are going to resort to this sort of behaviour. I fear for my grand-children.

The gun culture in America and the obscene political power of the gun lobby - mainly the NRA - in terms of the senators that they buy ( and that is the only word to use) means that nothing will ever change there. Nothing I read about mass shootings, accidental shootings of one child of another or this latest case surprises me at all and I absolutely refuse to feel anything about it other than the solution us in their own hands ( literally )

I have just said to my DH that I wouldn't live in America for anything. That poor little girl will be in therapy well into her adult life I'm sure. "Bullets and Burgers", says it all really.Why, oh,why are the American people so in love with guns.

An 8 year old boy shot himself a couple of years ago with the same gun- despite the parents having been warned that the recoil was too strong for him.

Yes, the world seems in a very sick state at the moment- I despair- and it breaks my heart for my grandchildren.

Because it is in the interests of the rich and powerful to lead them to think that's what the 'right to bear arms ' is all about

This horrified me when I saw it on lunch time news. What horrified me even more was the guy who runs the place happily stating on camera that they teach 5yr olds to shoot .22s
As you say hilda several years of therapy will be required bless the poor child.

The 'world's gone mad' is not just about this case though, is it? I find the Rotherham grooming and rape story much more disturbing in many ways. 1400 girls, in a relatively small town- even if over a 15 year period, at around 100 girls a year... it is still massive.

Officials who closed a blind eye for whatever reasons are of course to blame- but surely- others in the community must have been aware- neighbours, shop-keepers... It must be such a broken society that allows that to happen in such large numbers, right under their nose. Just too easy to blame the officials and wring hands up in horror.

The poor little girl could hardly lift the bloody gun, what were her parents thinking? They may regret this when they are bankrupted by paying for their daughter's therapy. The land of the free eh? And did you see the advert? A fun day out called Bullets and Burgers? The gun lobby are far too powerful as Obama has found out. Is it me getting old or is the world getting worse?

Well I"ve always said that the US OF A will NEVER get rid of their guns!
In my day to day going about there though, have never seen any evidence of guns except those carried by Officers of the Law.

We start kids at archery at age 5, but with very strict supervision. It's not quite so lethal as a gun at that age, but still potentially could cause injury.

Well, ordinary citizens wouldn't be waving their guns around in the street, Nonu! They keep them at home for 'self-defence' don't they? Or possibly secreted on their person when out and about.

I've lost count of the numbers of innocent householders shot by family members mistakenly believing them to be intruders...

I have just seen an American article explaining that this was all the parents' fault because they had left it too late to teach her to shoot!!! She would have been able to handle the recoil if she had been handed a Uzi before she was 5 !!! Well that's all right then

Terrible shame!! Our thoughts are with this poor youngster who is going to be affected by this incident for the rest of her life. The gun culture in the USA is madness

Not what the Founding Fathers had in mind, I'm sure. Certainly, they would have had no concept of automatic weapons. These are military guns with only one purpose - to kill or severely injure other people as rapidly as possible. They are not suitable for sport or self-defence and have no place on a shooting range. Nor, of course, does a nine-year-old girl.

It will be with the poor child for the rest of her life and through no fault of her own. So sad.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/25/kids-guns-and-the-american-way

A friend told me about a programme re this - I think it was the one mentioned in the article above.

Horrifying.

The Americans are such welcoming and friendly people, but I would never even go there on holiday, let alone live there for three reasons: their gun laws, their lack of universal health care, and their very low minimum wage rates.

That story about the little girl is horrifying: I agree she will probably need a lot of therapy.

I wonder how many Americans move to Canada because of the above three things, the very worst of which is the gun laws. You can protect yourself against the other two by following a good career path, but no-one is safe from gun violence. Not even presidents.

I disagree about a nine year old girl having no place on a firing range. Children of nine, both girls and boys, shoot air guns and bows on target ranges in Britain too. Target shooting is fun and there is skill in it. That's the appeal.

I agree about the ridiculous American gun laws and that a nine year old, or anyone outside of the military, needing to shoot a mahine gun.

The world has always been in a mess. I don't think it's worse now than it has ever been. Nature is messy. We just hear about the mess more easily than we used to and there are more of us to be messy (us being part of messy Nature).

I got an arrow in my right eye on my fifth birthday, and have never been able to see out of that eye since. Accidents happen, even in the street.

Safety is of paramount importance on archery or gun firing ranges. If safety procedures are properly and rigorously followed accidents don't happen.