Christopher Bizilj's Family Files Suit: Family Blames Teen For 8-Year-Old's Uzi Death At Gun Show

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The family of an 8-year-old boy who fatally shot himself at a gun show in western Massachusetts say the Uzi submachine gun jammed twice before he lost control of the weapon and fired into his head.

The family of Christopher Bizilj (bah-SEEL') of Ashford, Conn., says in a civil lawsuit filed Friday that a 15-year-old instructor who cleared the gun and handed it back to the victim failed to provide proper guidance.

The lawsuit names the owners of a gun club where the fair was held, promoters of the event and those who supplied the weapon and ammunition. None of those named in the lawsuit could be reached for comment after business hours Monday.

Bizilj shot himself at the Westfield Sportsman's Club in October 2008.

The boy's family claims the gun was defective and unreasonably dangerous, and they blame the failure to properly service it.

Comments

[sinope]

WORST. PARENTS. EVER. And they're suing someone else over this?

[FerraKnows]

Dear Mr. Bizilj,

In anticipation of a first-time pheasant hunting trip recently, I visited a rural gun store. There, I overheard a worrisome conversation between a father and his son. The boy, who appeared to be about eight years old, listened intently as he struggled to keep pace with his dad’s stride. While they walked through the store, his father explained that the current administration and congress were going to take the boy’s second amendment rights. “What’s that?” the boy asked—provoking a deeper, protracted lecture.

I have owned a few firearms in my life, always kept locked away in a safe. My young son didn’t know they existed. He has never had a toy gun for Christmas, nor was he ever allowed to fashion “play” guns. This was my approach because I find it preposterous to expect a child to reconcile such complex constructs as second amendment rights, human rights, firearm safety, and so on. Our discussion took place when he was old enough to vote. A time when his cognitive development invited critical reasoning. In other words, a time he could think for himself.

I don’t know what caused you to place a baby in that environment. I suspect it has something to do with Mr. Obama’s grand plan to invade your home; or, another warrant-less fear. Again, I don’t know. I do know that this Christmas a precious child won’t be around to open his presents. Young Bizilj, didn’t make this choice.

I’ll end now.

[johnkilmy]

O my... This is just wrong. Best wishes to the family. http://www.electroniccigarettesinc.com

[ElBruce]

Obviously there should have been a sign posted or a label on the gun that said "WARNING: Do not shoot yourself in the head."

[carnegie]

"The boy's family claims the gun was defective and unreasonably dangerous, and they blame the failure to properly service it"

Instead of accepting responsibility for being so GD stupid to bring their child to a gun show and letting them play with it. Newsflash. ALL guns are "unreasonably dangerous" and that is why four children are killed either at their own or another child's hand in terrible accidents every single day in this country.

No health insurance for all its citizens, an obsession/love for guns and the coressonding bloodbaths that go with it, gross economic disparity, lousy and prohibitively expensive education, Ahh yes but this is "the greatest country in the world."

NOT.


And stories like this illustrate one reason why.

[marine6680]

Seriously? Your the type that blames the hammer for your smashed finger, and not your bad aim. Yes guns are dangerous, just like a myriad of other things a kid can find in his home.

I hope you realize that people do not kill each other because there are guns, they kill each other for greed, anger, jealousy, and many other reasons. If we did not have guns then people would use swords and knives, sticks and rocks, or even their bare hands. A gun is just a tool, it just makes the job easer, it does not enable the act. At least with guns, your physical strength isn't a factor in defending yourself, a 115lb woman can defend herself from a 200lb+ man. There are bad people in this world, it is a fact of life we all wish wasn't, but we can't change it. Responsibility is key with anything, dinner knives, the family car, and guns.

That child's death was a tragedy, and it was caused by the irresponsible parents, the 15yo, and the event planners who let things like an 8yo actually participate instead of being a mere spectator. It should not be cheapened by using it to peddle flawed logic and propaganda.

[JohnStuartMill]

Your type riffs off buzzwords without reading the whole post. Clown.

[marine6680]

And your statistics are flawed. Those are not all accidental deaths, many are murders and victims of violence. Though they are just as unfortunate. The gun is merely the tool in the hands of the killer. Baseball bats and hammers work just as well, and they are used in many crimes and murders, yet we do not call for their being baned. You can never remove the knowledge of firearms, even if they were all destroyed and there was not a single one on earth,, someone would make a homemade gun and use it to kill.

If you really want to know if anti-gun laws prevents crime, look to Europe. In England, where private gun ownership is illegal, about 50% of all home burglaries occur when the victim is home. In America the percentage is much less, 10%, most of those are because they did not know someone was home. They did a study and found the reason is because the robbers didn't want to get shot, and they could not know who owned a firearm. So while a gun will not prevent your house from being robbed, it can at least mean you are most likely not going to be at home, and therefore in danger when it happens. (I am working from memory so the numbers may be off, but the point is still valid)

This country has its problems and many are caused by peoples refusal to take responsibility for themselves, their actions, or their children.

[Matthew King]

"out 50% of all home burglaries occur when the victim is home. In America the percentage is much less,"

Yes those figures might be true, but it's a trade off. Because many more people in this country are killed accidental by guns than any other country. So, even though statistically you might get robbed less, you have a better chance of dying by gunfire in general. So it actually comes out worse, cuz I'd rather be robbed in Europe at knife-point r than get in a shoot-out in America.

Personally, I don't think the answer is to ban guns. I think guns are fine. But I would treat them with much more respect than this country does now. In fact, we have many safety nets for children with drivers licenses, alcohol, cigarettes, etc - I personally don't think children should have live ammo.

But just because somebody can misuse something, doesn't mean it should be illegal.

[iRock]

I think the parents are filing suit because they are trying to cover up their stu/pidity.

I wonder if they regret letting their son play with an UZI....

Forget that it wasn't "cleared" whatever that means, it's an UZI! Your son is EIGHT.

Stop finding people to sue for your own stupidity.

[Godweiser]

The father is a little late if he wants to reassure the rest of the world that he's not a complete numpty.

[Clairre]

WTF were his parents thinking, bringing a child to a gun show??

[Eddy333]

Four words:

15 year-old instructor

Seriously, WTF?

[MintysMom]

The father should be in jail. Not walking around free and filing lawsuits.

[Max Benton]

Why is the father blamed? Neither the mother or father is singled out in this article.

[MintysMom]

Are you kidding? What parent allows their 8 yr old to handle an uzi? The father took the kid to the gun show and encouraged it. The parent is responsible for the child's well-being.

[slsmag]

presumably because teh only the father was present.

[vortac2101]

The defense strategy should be pretty simple in this case. The gun wasn't defective. It fired a high velocity projectile in the direction in which the barrel was pointed. That is what guns do. If you point the barrel at a person's head, they will usually die. That is exactly the purpose for which Uzi's were engineered. Not only did the gun not malfunction, it performed it's designed function perfectly. The only thing defective in this case was the parents reasoning abilities. If you give an eight-year-old an ax, and he chops down a cherry tree, do you blame it on the ax being defective?

[BambooHarvester]

[StatueOfLiberal]

This happened at the Westfield Sportsman's club? What sport were they practicing?

[Sean 6399]

Target shooting?

Just a guess, I wasn't there.

[Sean 6399]

Of course the parents bear zero responsibility for taking their 8 year old to the event and allowing him to fire a full-auto submachine gun.

[Ghnash]

wow! as a gun owner and an avid shooter i cannot begin to lis all the thing that are wrong here! giving an 8 year old a firearm is like handing a monkey a straight razor! a minor "supervising" the firing range is pure idiocy. letting minors have access to automatic weapons violates all firearm safety principles and indicates rampant stupidity on the part of the parents, show organizers, local authorities for giving a permit for this, and pretty much everyone who attended the show and did not immediately call for the ATF to shut these clowns down.

[Trueheart]

You summed that up perfectly.
The parents are most certainly in the circle of blame.
Poor little kid.

[carnegie]

And of course the insane gun culture in general. Just wondering avid shooter. What do you shoot?

[oldpol2]

Not everyone who carries is a crazy. I have my liscense and had all my classes. I started to carry when I had to drive alone, at night , in the city.. ... I am a great shot and hope I never have to use it. Everything is locked up and stored in a very safe manner. I have 4 sons all have been trained by my husband. None of them were ever allowed to participate in anything dangerous.

I am not willing to give up my rights because this family was so clueless. It breaks my heart to hear of this child. Realisticly you cannot legislate enough to make up for stupidity.

[marine6680]

Yet another comment blaming an unthinking inanimate object and not the real reason this happened. Pure irresponsibility and stupidity on the part of the parents the event organizers and anyone there watching it happen.

Many children die in swimming pools every year, yet we haven't banned them yet. We blame the person responsible for watching over the child, and entrusted with their safety.

[Dimensio]

"And of course the insane gun culture in general. "

Your "ad hominem" attack does not lend credence to your position.

[masola81]

It's very clear that this was the father's fault. He more than anyone is to blame - the father brought this little boy to the gun show, allowed him to handle and fire an uzi and should have known, without question, that the gun was too much for his son to handle. Absolutely. The father should be charged with reckless endangerment in the death of his son. The fact that the family is now saying the gun being defective is beyond ridiculous. If the gun had not been in the 8 year old's hands, he'd be alive today. And the father knows that very well. I remember the interviews with that guy - guilty and acted it.

[myoungholt]

Ditto.

[Godweiser]

The gun wasn't defective -- they probably loaded the wrong ammunition for it.

Look, not all 9x19mm rounds are alike, and SMG's typically require a greater powder charge than many civilian-type ammunitions in the same caliber can provide in order to cycle the bolt via recoil.

The malfunctions sound like they used a civilian round and the weapon jammed up because the kid's wrist snapped back from the recoil upon firing, absorbing the force that would generally cycle the bolt -- the weapon in question is, after all, VERY light and compact, and doesn't absorb recoil well. So the kid, not braced properly, let all the recoil go into the wrist by letting the gun fly back, which means it didn't go to the bolt, as it would if the gun were held steady.

If this is the case, either the father bought the ammo and then rented the gun, in which case he's actually at fault for those malfunctions, or the people that sold him the ammo were incompetent and sold him ammunition with too light a charge to reliably operate the weapon with. Either option is not reassuring.

But no matter what, they're all at fault. The above theory of what went on would be simply even more incompetence to add to what we already know.

[carnegie]

Is it common practice to have anybody and everybody be allowed to handle loaded weapons at these shows? It doesn't strike me a wise to allow that scenario even with adults, many who are unstable, criminal or dumb. Of course this describes a large group of gun owners except there is some pretense of background checks, and licensing, right?