Something like this could have happened with a chain saw, or a lawn mower, or an outboard motor, or an electric drill, or any of a thousand other things.Its no big deal. We can't outlaw tools just because they are potentially dangerous. People die in lots of sports, too, they fall off horses, drown in pools, get run over on their bikes...

But its not how this man was killed that should attract our attention. It is WHY he died. The true horror here is that we actually live in a society where teaching children how to fire a full-auto machine pistol is not only possible, it is desirable. It is cool, it has patriotic implications and political significance, it is fun; and providing that thrill to children is somehow a valid thing for a business to do, and for grown men to earn their living doing, and for customers to seek out and pay for. We actually live in a society where this can happen. It has become a constitutional virtue for children to play with guns, and part of our freedom and liberty to make a saleable commodity of that action. Fully automatic weapons in civilian hands are strictly illegal, except for specially licensed individuals and firms, like companies that sell the thrill of shooting one to children of all ages. That is really fucked up.

And its all being filmed, too, no doubt so we can show those Libs what pansies and cowards they are.

I knew a guy in college who, as a child, had accidentally killed his brother with a bow and arrow playing "William Tell". He was still screwed up when I knew him, he knew he had done a terrible thing playing a game that would have been strictly forbidden by his parents, if they had only known it was going on.

No, I'm not advocating outlawing bows and arrows, or apples, or even guns. Little kids do stupid things, or they are clumsy or careless. Its their nature to be that way. But grown-ups know better, don't they? Grown-ups don't play William Tell, and they don't play with guns.

That little girl will be having nightmares about this for the rest of her life.