Quote from article: "Francis Mitchell, a longtime member and trustee of the club, said he was told the boy's father was supporting his son from behind when the incident happened".

That part of the news report is a report of hearsay. We do not actually know if he was or was not.

Also: It would appear that either he was allowed to fire a fully automatic weapon, or the weapon itself was defective.

I personally do not have issues with introducing boy's of that age to firearms. The younger they are taught to understand and respect them the better.

But it would appear to me that the instructor also has a great deal to answer for.

Part of me thinks that the instructor and the father should do the decent thing. The rest of me thinks that would be far too easy an out for them.