Connecticut Passes Machine Gun Bill

(Hartford, Connecticut) The accidental self-inflicted machine-gun death of an 8-year-old boy at a Massachusetts gun club has spurred action by the Connecticut State Senate. A measure was approved which would ban anyone under 16 years of age from handling a machine gun.

The bill, which prohibits the transfer of such weapons to children, is in response to the death of Christopher K. Bizilj, an Ashford boy who lost control of a Micro Uzi submachine gun and accidentally shot himself in the head in Massachusetts in late October.

The third-grader, who was 4 feet 3 and weighed 66 pounds, couldn't control the high-powered weapon's recoil. A Massachusetts grand jury has indicted a police chief, the gun club and two Connecticut men in connection with the accident at the machine gun event in Westfield.

To me it appears that the circumstances surrounding the accident contributed to the boy's death rather than lack of a law. I suggest that inadequate supervision, training and operating procedures led to the boy's death.

Call me picky but I believe that any desired corrective action should address the operation of one specific gun club in Massachusetts, rather than placing an arbitrary age restriction on the use of guns in Connecticut.

Keep in mind that the incident has been deemed an accident and, as such, it was a unique event that is not likely to be repeated. Supporting this opinion, an Internet search on "accidental self-inflicted machine-gun wounds" returned no results.

All that said, I do believe gun club procedures should assure that anyone using a firearm has sufficient body mass to handle the recoil. I also believe that the Connecticut State Senate has its finger on a feather trigger when it comes to passing gun control laws.