Steve Johnson

Founder and Dictator-In-Chief of TFB. A passionate gun owner, a shooting enthusiast and totally tacti-uncool. Favorite first date location: any gun range. Steve can be contacted here.

More In: NFA / Suppressors / Class III

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  • Raymond

    Dear lord that brings a smile to my face. Also brings me back to the Onion video a while back about US child soldiers lagging behind their African counterparts, seems we’ve started to catch up. ;-)

  • http://www.dooms-day-device.com Puke

    Reminds me of a friends kids. He has fostered a very healthy respect and knowledge of firearms in his children. They won’t have irrational fears of guns as adults.

  • Gregg

    As a former regular at Albany, that is great to see. That reminds me to get my daughter to the range this weekend (although, sadly, no mp5).

  • ARL

    …until she can’t control it and accidentally shoots herself in the head like the kid in Massachusetts a couple years ago. She seems a little young to shoot an MP5K safely and safety trumps the need to take cute pictures.

  • cy

    That’s how to raise your Daughter. If I get the chance, I will have my 13 yr old shoot full auto.

  • Nick Pacific

    If I have a daughter I hope she is as cool.

  • SpudGun

    Mark doesn’t dress up in a Big Daddy oufit from Kick Ass by any chance? This is a great picture and I’m lovin’ the peace symbols.

  • Al

    Awesome!!!!!!!!!
    Nothing like teaching them young!!!!
    I’ve always said that if you teach them respect for firearms at a young age, they will respect it later on in life.
    She should have no problem holding her own!!!!

  • http://njfirearms.blogspot.com Mark Steele

    I love the fact that she is smiling AND wearing a hoodie with peace signs all over it.

    God bless America!

  • Badaboom

    People don’t see this as dangerous? There was a kid not too long ago who accidentally shot himself in the head at one of these types of shoots when the barrel rose up from full auto fire. There is no need to have kids shooting fully automatic firearms as there will be plenty of time for them to do that if they want to when they are older.

    The biggest enemy to the continuation of private firearm ownership are the irresponsible firearm owners.

  • http://www.blogger.com/home JD

    Is that the definition of peace through superior fire power? = )
    Great photo, good to see folks getting kids involved safely in the sport.

  • Pete Sheppard

    Peace through superior firepower!! :D

  • Bryan S

    Bedaboom- Is it? that kid was shooting a short barrel uzi, which is known to be very hard to control for even adults. An MP5 is much more manageable, and this girl has an adult with her (which that other child did not) who is paying attention to what is going on (from what I can see).

  • Ryan

    some of you failed to see that someone has a hand on her right shoulder and it looks like a hand on her left arm…I’m looking at you Badaboom and ARL. I’m quite sure this was a 100% safe environment.

  • SpudGun

    As for all the hysterics surrounding the 8 year old in Mass shooting himself in the head, he was using an Uzi which has a different center of gravity, recoil impulse and muzzle climb to an MP5 not to mention the way you hold / brace with it. The report also doesn’t mention if the SMG was being fired from the shoulder or hip. It was an unfortunate accident and thankfully a rare one.

    On a different note, the photo of a little girl firing a full auto 9mm isn’t going to do much good for the Kriss Vector PR Department.

  • SRD

    I have no problem with a child that small learning to shoot a AR15, but i see the MP5 as to dangerous for a child that small. I would feel safer with a longer fully auto. I have no issue kids shooting guns but some guns are better left till they are teenagers.

  • Other Steve

    The comments about safety need to stop right now. Can you fuds not see the adult standing behind her? Also the accident you are referring to happened because s 16yo “range officer” was not supporting the Micro-Uzi the kid was using, micro Uzi as in no stock. Micro Uzi as in completely uncontrollable full auto pistol when adults use it, about the complete opposite of the MP5-K with stock, way slower rate of fire, and less recoil this girl is shooting. There is no chance of her tilting the gun back to herself with this just looking at the angles involved.

    Basically STFU.

  • JayK

    There are a lot of cases in the air, and she’s still got it under control. Also notice the red and black gloved hand on her right shoulder. The person in the black T-shirt must be very close, keeping everything safe.

  • http://www.palba.cz/ kopapaka

    Cute…
    :)

  • http://www.tracksandtires.com OHIO SHAWN

    Badaboom and ARL, if you notice in the pic, there is a range master poised to snatch the gun should it rise unexpectedly, and in the case of that boy, he was allowed to approach the firing line and begin shooting by himself with no one standing near him and, yes, it led to his death.
    Safety does trump cute pictures, but that doesn’t mean kids cant be allowed to shoot if proper safety protocols are in place.

  • http://mithras.blogs.com Mithras

    It looks like someone (the person in the black shirt in the background?) has one gloved hand on her right shoulder, bracing her, and maybe has another supporting her left forearm. Without that kind of supervision, allowing a child to fire a subgun on full auto is the height of irresponsibility.

  • Mark

    Indeed, it’s all fun and games and cute until some kid finds out that full auto recoil is a different beast indeed and puts a few rounds through their own head by accident.

    Parenting generally involves some modicum of wisdom, and while it might make for a cute photo op, letting your kids shoot a fully automatic firearm, even if you’re standing right next to them, is something that’s had fatal consequences in the past. Probably something that shouldn’t be endorsed by any of us. Firearm ownership is responsibility, and the above picture? That ain’t it.

    It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed from a preventable lack of reasonable caution.

  • subase

    That incident with the kid who shot himself in the head happened with a fully automatic Uzi Pistol with no stock. Very dangerous weapon even in the hands of an adult much less a kid who could barely get a grip on it. It highlights the dangers of trusting your kids life to random strangers at gunshows. This MP5 has both a stock and foregrip and it’s a submachine gun not a machine pistol. The recoil wouldn’t be that bad and they tested it with her on semi-auto first no doubt.

  • Nomen Nescio

    her grip looks solid enough, she’s got three points of contact on the weapon, and i notice her muzzle is well down even though the air’s full of spent brass. so i’d guess chances are good she actually knows what she’s doing there.

  • Joe

    This reminds me of Gunslinger Girl.

  • mbirch

    Due to the overall length, if the muzzle rose up and pivoted on her shoulder, it would clear above her head. You can also see an adult standing inches away from her, and probably supporting her shoulder. Let’s not assume that its her first time, and that her parent is irresponsible. Let’s do the complete opposite.

  • Tinkerer

    @Badaboom.

    Mayhaps you failed to notice the adult on the background, and the gloved hand on the girl’s right shoulder, that clearly indicate a responsible adult both instructing the girl and giving her physical support against the recoil of a weapon firing 9m Para with a online barrel-stock design that is known for it’s controlability? Please refer to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHYBTdF7BE4

  • justin

    I was a range officer at the Albany machine gun shoot and when i small shooter like that came to the line there was two of us there to do what ever was needed to keep her safe. the person in the black shirt was a range officer in the pic. also kid were not aloud to shoot any gun without a buttstock because of what happiened back east with the little boy and the uzi. I saw a lot of kids with a smiles after shooting in the two days of the machine gun shoot.

  • Josh

    To the couple people complaining that this is “unsafe”, did you even look at the picture? I count at least six and maybe a seventh case in the air and the weapon is still pointed down and on target. It looks like she is handling the recoil just fine so I don’t see anything “unsafe” about it.

  • JM

    ARL and Badaboom: can you not see the adult’s left arm and right hand in the background providing extra recoil support and shoulder stability? Not to mention that she’s handling the weapon with the proper grip and shoulder mount.

    The kid that was killed was holding an Uzi improperly (no stock, no forward support hand). Completely different situation.

    Don’t be so spastic. We have enough of that retardedness in the mainstream media.

  • Griffin

    A) Awesome photo. Simply adorable.

    B) All the Monday morning quarterback parenting going on in this comment thread is also adorable.

    C) None of us, except for perhaps the photographer, knows enough about the situation to determine just how safe it was or wasn’t.

    It appears to me the guy to her left has his right hand on her right shoulder and his left hand on her left wrist/forearm helping her control the muzzle.

    It also appears she has a white knuckle hold on that vertical fore-grip.

    It’s entirely possible there were only six rounds in the magazine.

    It’s possible she’s an experienced little shooter with a cool head.

    It’s possible she was told “whatever you do don’t let go of that fore grip” and her father/guardian knows her well enough to be able to safely trust her to do that.

    It’s possible this was horrifically irresponsible, that she never follows instructions, has never shot any kind of gun before, has a full magazine, and that guy next to her expected to be able to magically jump in before she shot herself in the head if it came to that.

    It’s even possible this is all fake and just a really cute picture.

    We don’t know.

  • j

    rich kids:-)

  • shinayne

    I do wonder if someone also teaches her about the irony of submachineguns and peace symbols.

  • David, Chandler, AZ

    For those of you concerned about her safety, you might notice that someone is stand very close to her and even appears to have their hand on her arm. This was not unsupervised. So get a grip.

  • Burst

    @ARL
    The kid who shot himself was using a mini-uzi. Possibly with the stock folded.

    That MP5′s a couple pounds heavier, and her hand is unlikely to fall off a vertical grip. I think the shooter’s facial expression says it all, really.

  • Bill

    This is great to see that smile. It looks like there are 2 adults in the wings to manage the situation if any recoil overcomes her.

  • Auxin

    As far as the safety of this photo goes, just look at the spent brass in the air. She’s apparently handling the recoil on this thing fine.

  • Bandito762

    People need to lighten up. From the looks of it she has shot 7 rounds and seems to still be in control, plus there is a man standing directly behind her presumably monitoring her activity. Chill out or go live in California.

  • Dave

    @ARL, @Badaboom – Note the rain of brass in the photo, and the fact that the firearm is still on target. She seems to be handling the muzzle climb just fine.

    It’s always irresponsible to improperly prepare any person, not just a child, to not operate a firearm safely, and to fail to train them how to handle a particular firearm’s operational characteristics.

    I’m thinking specifically of those jerks who let inexperienced shooters (like their girlfriends, etc.) fire large-caliber pistols, shotguns, and similar high-powered firearms without warning of the harshness of the recoil or proper instruction on proper stance and bracing, while chuckling in the background as the shooter gets hurt and/or traumatized by the event.

    Auto-fire muzzle climb is definitely a concern, especially for diminutive shooters. But with the right training and supervision, it can be done safely.

  • Steveo

    To the person who protested that this is a dangerous activity for a young person….Yes, that is all too true, there was that horrible incident where a young boy lost control of a full-auto UZI and was killed after the gun recoiled backwards and he was shot in the head.

    That said, this young lady looks to have things firmly under control. Good two-handed hold, stock firmly shouldered. And, if I am not mistaken, that looks like Dad in the background ready to spot her if things start to get out of control.

    You have to know your kids and their abilities. She probably has previous experience with guns and has had instruction.

    Point is, its only dangerous if you do it wrong. Like skiing, bike riding, swimming or many other activities that can potentially kill you if you get in over your head.

    If you heard that someone’s child was killed in a bicycle accident, would you stop your kids from riding their bikes, or would you put a helmet on them and teach them to be careful?

  • garyny

    seeing as there is some one blatantly holding her arm im pretty sure shes not gunna shoot herself in the face……..
    also why so many repeat comments lol
    also is this albany ny? because id be real surprised if it was

  • jdun1911

    Badaboom,

    The problem with that tragedy was the kid wasn’t train.

    Second this is a gun club and like most gun club they have years of experience in teaching children how to shoot.

    Third while the kid death was tragic it is extremely rare to hear someone shot/killed themselves while shooting full auto. It happen but compare to car accidents, drowning, etc it is not even a blip in the radar.

  • Dakota

    This is great, teach em’ young to respect firearms, and there won’t be any problems. A firearm is a tool, it doesn’t kill people, a person kills other people. Don’t blame inanimate objects for death.

  • RWC

    Badaboom,

    That gun was a Micro Uzi. Much harder to control.

  • zincorium

    As far as the kid who shot himself in the face, he was using an uzi, I believe, with no stock. He was also inadequately supervised.

    The girl in this picture doesn’t look like she’s going to lose control- in fact, even after all of those rounds, the recoil hasn’t driven the muzzle upwards. And there’s a guy right behind her who looks like he could intervene if necessary.

  • Ghostalker

    What I think some of you are missing in this photo is the man standing out of frame, holding onto her shoulder and guiding her left hand. There is little to fear here.

  • Charles in Atl

    I thought about the uzi shooting the instant I saw the picture.
    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20027659-504083.html
    I let my 8 year old daughter shoot .22 rifles and even a small single six pistol, but children are not little adults. As mature and well coached as this little girl might be, her brain and her body are just not sufficiently developed to safely give her this responsibility. Too much can happen with an automatic weapon before an adult could possibly react.
    C.

  • Rob

    That kid shot himself in the head because he was about 3 or so, that girl is at least ten. Also do you not see the very large man behind her, holding her arm and her shoulder to keep her in control of the gun?

  • Duray

    To the critical folks alluding to the mishap with the Uzi, this is a whole different situation. There’s a big difference between a handheld open bolt Uzi pistol (which led to the fatal accident) and a stocked, closed bolt, shoulder fired carbine with double vertical grips. As you can see in the photo, she has 7 casings in the air with virtually no muzzle rise, which shows both a good gun design, and proper shooting technique. Anyone is unsafe if they don’t know what they’re doing. For all you know, this girl’s father started her with one round, then two, until he could tell she was comfortable and in control, which she obviously is in this photo. That’s different from “Hey, lets get a picture of my kid on full auto!” Just because a person is a child doesn’t make them incompetent, and there’s no reason a person has to be fully grown and 160 lbs to control a 7lb 9mm.

  • https://redcapsurvival.wordpress.com/ RedCap24

    is it bad that Im jealous of a 9 year old girl!

    and for the people bashing her saying it dangerous you have no idea what her shooting level is. she may be completely capable of handling this type of firepower (which looks to be the case since the shell casings are flying and she looks to be keeping the muzzle down). from her hand placement to her sight picture you can obviously tell she has had some form of instruction from someone who knows what they are doing (plus the guy in the background ready to step in if something when wrong). I would feel perfectly safe shooting at the same rage and in the stall next to her.

    Im not saying that every 9 year old should or even could handle this but if they can more power too them

  • Maverick

    @arl and @badaboom

    With the stock against her shoulder like that I doubt the weapon will be able to rotate and a round to strike her. If I recall correctly the Mass. incident was caused by a micro uzi without a stock.

  • Raoul O’Shaughnessy

    It appears there are two people, on on each side of her, steadying her and watching for problems. Note the gloved hand on her shoulder and the guy in the black shirt helping her hold the gun.

  • http://blog.robballen.com Robb Allen

    To those pooh-poohing this as dangerous, you cite a *SINGLE* instance of an accident as gospel that this shouldn’t be allowed. Sorry, that dog don’t hunt.

    Each child is different. A good parent should know what their kid can handle and what they can’t. Sadly, allowing freedom means that once every blue moon, someone is going to make the wrong decision. Your child has an exponentially higher chance of drowning in a pool (even if they know how to swim) than they do dying while shooting an automatic weapon.

    My youngest is eager to hit the range with me, but as her father, I know she’s not quite ready. I’m sure this beautiful little girl’s father knew she could handle it and that every opportunity for safety was provided. Add in the fact that she obviously survived the incident, and I’d say our worst enemies are ourselves, but not the guy letting his daughter have some fun.

  • Tony

    considering that the stream of ejected brass is in a fairly tight pattern, she seems to be controlling the gun quite well. Also note the close adult supervision next to her. great pic!

  • mike

    “The biggest enemy to the continuation of private firearm ownership are the irresponsible firearm owners.”

    No, the biggest enemy to the continuation of private firearm ownership are firearm owners who would place restrictions on the rest of us because of something they don’t like or understand. You *clearly* haven’t ever shot an MP5K because they’re entirely manageable in that configuration (see the VFG there?) even by that little girl. It’s no Micro Uzi, and has a much lower ROF.

    Let’s not fall into the trap of wanting to ban things we don’t like or don’t understand. Also, go shoot an MP5k with stock and VFG and you’ll see how ridiculous it is to compare it to a Micro Uzi.

  • Stryker

    ARL and BADABOOM,

    Take a closer look at the picture and you will see an adult sized male with one hand on her shoulder and what appears to be his other had near the pistol grip providing any assistance she might require. Seriously, get out from under your rock and get some fresh air.

  • http://therevolutionscript.blogspot.com The Red Son

    I used to go to that machine gun shoot in Mass., even shot the micro uzi the kid accidentally shot himself with. That was my first reaction to seeing this.

    Having shot both full auto, a MP5 is much more manageable than a micro uzi (duh), are either “kid friendly though?

  • Chase

    If you look there is an adult behind her holding her arm and shoulder to make sure the gun does not jump out of her hands.

  • ariggsd

    @ARL Looks to me like she has a pretty good handle on it. Not to mention the supervising adult right behind her, in the correct assistance position.
    p.s. that child in Massachusetts was younger, and shooting without any assistance what so ever.

  • Bob

    I agree with the naysayers on this one. You wouldn’t let a little girl drive an F1 car at 200 mph, why would you let her fire a full auto sub machinegun? Especially given what recently happened. There is time for everything- this is just wrong. Teaching her?? If anything, this goes against common sense and safe gun handling.

  • Alex S

    ARL and Badaboom,

    The incident you are remembering (I think) had a kid shooting a full auto pistol. The pistol recoiled up and took off the top of his head. This pic shows an Mp5 with stock and forgrip. So there’s not as much of a problem as she can hold on to it better. There’s also a hand on her shoulder to help with recoil, showing that someone is right next to her helping.

    This pick is not only bad ass, from what I can tell it is safe.

  • http://yahoo.com mica

    ok guy,s let,s cut the argument it was a full auto mac 10 the kid was fireing witch was realy stupid \ no stock on a mac 10 for one so no was of controling the auto climb while fireing and deffanataly the father should have never handed his son a fulll auto and if you look close the girl is only fireing a semi auto not a full auto and she has her sholder braced in tight and good control of the wepon

  • http://votefordavid.blogspot.com Vote For David

    To the nannies worried about a snowflake being shot: Chill. this kid has a firm grip on the foregrip and OBVIOUSLY knows how to take care of the VERY LITTLE amount of muzzle rise you get from an MP5. The other kid had an UZI which has (last I checked) no foregrip and no weight on the front end to speak of, as well as a parent who stepped away to take a photo.

    Am I the ONLY one who sees an adult arm coming out of a black t-shirt sleeve very clearly standing by to prevent just such an accident?

    What, do you not let your children run around with sticks, either? Hint: my kids were just running with sticks in the front yard 2 hours ago and lived to tell the story (Indians/bows & arrows in this case) and this photo looks perfectly safe to me!

  • Komrad

    Could the people talking about the full-auto accidental headshot incident either provide a link to a relevant article or think about the ridiculousness of what they’ve said.
    In order for the barrel to come full circle, it would need to rotate in a large circle freely from heavy recoil and high rate of fire. You can clearly see she has the fore-grip firmly grasped. Also, if she were to let go, I think the tendency would be for the barrel to go down, not up, from the weight. Also notice how a man is holding her shoulder and his other hand may be helping control the gun, she has a stance that is not terrible, and there is little muzzle rise despite a six or more round burst being fired (count the brass in the air).

    The only way I could see a firearm spinning around to hit someone in the head is with a MAC-10 or similar because of the absurd rate of fire and larger caliber and the lack of controllablity. She is not firing a highly uncontrollable MAC-10; she is firing an easily controlled Mp5k with a fore-grip and a rather burly man assisting her. There is absolutely nothing unsafe about it, so quit your bitching.

  • Alaskan

    Peace
    .
    .
    .
    .through superior firepower.

  • gunslinger

    My first thought was FMJ “You write “Born to Kill” on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?”

    a peace sign jacket but slinging brass from an MP5K?

    next thought was, how “safe” is it? but upon closer inspection it appears she has quite a bit of control over the firearm and others are close by to assist. Yes i thought about the kid with the uzi, but in order for that situation to repeat, the gun would have to rotate about a point close to the mag, so that the barrel would be pointing at her head, or a combination of the firearm dropping and the point of rotation could then be moved back. either way, the physics of it seem to indicate it would be an unlikely situation.

    now, at a range that shoot at, they offer full auto rentals. However they “tie down” the barrel to the bench so that the gun doesn’t rise. sure it takes some “fun” and control out of it, but they are protecting their ceiling/cabling system as well as the safety of others. so maybe that would be a compromise? idk

    either way, i hope to introduce my kids to shooting

  • Geore

    I guarantee that there are 1000′s of kids just like this (if not more) who have fired full auto weapons. Safety and familiarity is everything. I wouldn’t let my child shoot ANY firearm without ensuring that they are familiar with all its functions first (where is the safety, where is the magazine release, what is the proper way to hold it, etc). Additionally I wouldn’t let them shoot anything without being fully involved. Growing up, my dad would not go shoot on his own while I was shooting. He would be watching me like a hawk to ensure he could jump in at the first sign of trouble.

    Letting a 8 year old shoot a Micro Uzi unattended is truly irresponsible. I have fired full autos throughout my life, and personally have no desire to shoot that gun. Completely uncontrollable, and with too high rate a fire. The MP5 however has much lower rate of fire, has more mass, has a foregrip, a full stock and there is hands-on adult supervision. I see no cause for alarm. I would be more concerned letting my daughter roller skate up and down the driveway.

  • Ben

    Ok folks, lets clear up a few things shall we? This is my daughter the photo was taken at the saddle butte full auto machine gun shoot at the albany gun club. What you dont see is that there is the owner of the gun standing to her immediate left rear, there is a range master directly behind her, and I am directly to her right rear.
    The owner of the firearm gave her very detailed instruction on grip and stance, and had her fire 3 rounds on semiauto to get a feel for the recoil. While firing in full auto she was pulling bursts to keep the barrel down.
    My daughter has a very good understanding of firearms and firearm safety because I teach her that, I bought her first gun at 6 (Henry Cricket… great gun to teach kids with BTW), Int this photo she is 10. Were not wealthy people this was just a fun father daughter outing, I only ended up shooting 1 gun the whole day (H&K G36) while she shot about 6 guns. Were not stupid people we are aware and deliberate with guns… So to everyone who likes the picture, You shoulda seen the smile on her face when she was done!… and to all those who had something negative to say about the picture… get bent and dont assume your right just because your typing.

  • Ben

    BTW I didnt know this photo was being taken and discovered it and the blog because a friend of mine recognized her in the pic.
    I took video of this shoot and the only dangerous thing about it was the dumb ass to her left decided to fire a chain fed on a bipod without regarding to what was next to him, the casings ejected at the owner of the gun, whom safetly held the weapon and shielded my daughter with his body.
    I’m proud of my daughter for wanting to do things like this and having the self esteem and internal fortitude to ask questions, seek guidance, pay attention and follow through .. how many of you, “concerend posters” can say that about yourselves even as adults?
    I look forward to getting the file and printing off a large picture to hang in my den.

  • Doug

    The boy who died handling the Uzi was eight.

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/father-christopher-bizilj-died-firing-uzi-urged-son/story?id=12565132

    FWIW, I agree with Griffin. This could have been a perfectly safe event; it could have been wildly dangerous. We don’t know. This, btw, includes Other Steve. :-)

  • Andrew (European Correspondent)

    Cinda Lou

    No, it is clear from this single photograph that she spends all her time training for war. We can tell from her pink sweatshirt with peace symbols that she will most likely become some sort of undercover agent, or as you put it so succinctly, will go kill things for a flag.

    She must not get any sunlight other than at the shooting range because her parents make her stay up all night practicing ninja kill maneuvers. They probably also don’t let her eat until she recites the Rifleman’s Creed while field-stripping an AK-47 (you don’t know what that means; don’t worry about it, just be happy that girls like her are training to do these sorts of things so that they can go kill things when they grow up).

    Now that I think about it, she’s probably killed stuff already. I can see from the killer look on her face that she must have been the Navy SEAL who killed Bin Laden.

    OR…It’s entirely possible that this is just a little girl having an incredibly fun time, after which her loving parents took her for ice cream and maybe a pony ride.

    You’ve already made it quite clear which scenario you think is most likely correct.

  • Mountainbear

    Anatomically speaking, there is simply no way for her to shoot herself in the head even if the barrel would rise due to recoil with that weapon and that support. It’s simply not possible. The gun is too long, plus there’s a stock. It’s like saying you can shoot yourself in the head with an M16 as an adult if the barrel goes up due to recoil. That, too, is not possible. Distances between arms, weapon, lethal end of gun and head essentially prohibit that.

    She’s not shooting it alone, without supervision, that’s the important part. That’s how you teach safety. You’re with them, you guide them. One gloved hand on her should is mom or dad, who is likely an experienced shooter. Another adult behind and somewhat blurred a green jacket with a red-white-red armband, possibly an RSO.

    Uzi Boy didn’t have any of that, as a result he’s dead. Well, that and trying to control a mini uzi…

    Personally I love that photo. Peace through superior firepower. I want to see a pedo try and get her. She’d pwn him. Also she seems to have a pretty good grip and the look on her face is priceless.

    Shall we say Hit Girl IRL?

  • Mountainbear

    @Ben, you rock and your daughter kicks ass.

    I think it’s time I start teaching my niece about shooting as well. She’s 11 and we’ve been doing tracking and wilderness survival for a while now. She’s pretty good at it by now. Thing is, in Japan that may be a bit hard to do, but grandpa, former cop and hunter, is pretty well stocked. So yeah, it might work out.

  • Sara

    Terrorist !! gosh !! and she’s wearing a peace jacket ;s

  • Levent

    I think this is photoshopped. I’ve used MP5 in the army and it bounces back hard. It’s not really alot like the MP5 in counter-strike. In fact, it bounces back much more than the AK-47.

    Even if this girl has the strength to hold it while shooting, she would certainly not be smiling like that. Its most probably a fake. Nevertheless she looks cute.

    • http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/ Steve (The Firearm Blog)

      Levent, children attend machine guns shoots frequently, this is not a photoshop.

    • adam skidmore

      take a close look at her right shoulder, you can see the fingers of some forward thinking adult bracing her.

  • Levent

    Ok Nevermind my post. I just read Ben’s post and I believe him. -ignore-

  • http://blog.chasclifton.com Chas

    Want to bet this photo goes viral and ends up illustrating something to do with feminism?

  • rickl

    I have a feeling that this photo is going to go viral on the internet.

    I first saw it at American Digest, and I’ve linked it at a couple of other places. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has done that. I’ve called attention to Ben’s comments here.

    I can’t help it. It’s a great photo. Ben, you must be very proud!

  • Nikki

    Regardless of her “shooting level” or an adult supervising her, a child should never carry a weapon. Period. It’s wrong. We should be protecting our children, not corrupting them. This picture makes me sad, and it makes me even sadder that there are adults are saying it’s awesome.

    • Ritz

      Completely disagree, its not wrong in the least. Learning how to shoot, gun safety, and everything that comes along with it is a great and worthwhile skill. When I have kids they will always have an option to learn such things if it interests them.

  • http://yahoo.com mica

    dear nikkl please go and SC(*&^% yourself how and what a PARENT TEACHE,S HIS OR HER CHILD is thire own bussness NOT YOUR,S OR THE STATE

  • Pete Sheppard

    Dear Mica, please consider trying education and courtesy to express yourself rather than insulting vitriol. Such comments do nothing to advance the cause of freedom.

    Nikki, if you come back, please understand that a gun is neither good nor evil. Such characteristics can come only from the person using it. There are millions of us who have grown up around guns who are as considerate and responsible as anyone could wish. We simply enjoy exercising our freedoms.

    • mica

      dear mr sheppard sorry about the vitraol however anti gun people like that realy tick me off when expresing opion,s that thay have no clue about i know in my case im trualy glad my daughter,s know how to use a firearm,s and yes thay are under 18 my eldest is 16 and she is a crack shot with my walther my 14 year old is a dead cold shot with my 22 long bolt action and my 12 year old love,s her 410 pump mosberg yes all 3 wepon,s are mine however id reather have daughter,s who know how to shoot then be deffencless little princess,s

  • Chelsea

    First off, its up to the parent what their child can and can not do. There is nothing wrong with letting your children try something different, who knows……one day it can save millions of lives.

    P.S. Do you mind if I use the photo for a book cover?

  • Law dart

    The photo is either shopped or a set up. There’s no blur on the bolt, no muzzle flash and no smoke from the powder. You can definitely see the motion of the falling casings. She’s just holding the gun. Even if she was though, that is her guardians issue. If she’s mature enough and trained properly it’s not a bad thing. I wouldn’t let my 8 year old near a full auto, but that’s my judgement call based on his maturity. You parent your kid, I’ll parent mine and these people can parent theirs.